Ecoli Medical Negligence Claims
MRSA not the only threat in NHS hospitals
The government has been accused of ‘taking its eye off the ball’ on hospital infections other than MRSA and C. difficile, a cross-party group of MPs has claimed. The Public Accounts Committee said that setting targets in England for the two infections had resulted in a drop in numbers as hospitals pulled out all the stops to prevent patients suffering from the two, headline grabbing infections. But the report also warns that other bugs such as E. coli were becoming more common and that more emphasis needed to be placed on combating all ‘superbugs’ and preventable infections in hospitals.
In England, MRSA rates are now a quarter of the numbers at their peak in 2004, and cases of C. difficile had fallen by nearly a third in the past year, following the introduction of targets from the government. But these two infections are the spotlight-grabbers, overshadowing the underlying problems of other infections in hospitals. E. coli is far more common and has actually increased by a third in the past four years, according to the report. Surgical site infections were also listed as twice as common as bloodstream infections. The report concluded that there is still no reliable data on the extent and risks of at least 80% of bugs linked to hospital care.
This is the third time that the committee has attempted to draw attention to the issue of other infections and members have called for the government to start asking hospitals to keep detailed records and reporting all types of infection and to curb the use of antibiotics. The over-subscription of antibiotics has been cited as one of the reasons for the rise of resistant strains of MRSA and other so-called ‘superbugs’. Doctors are reporting that some strains of E. coli now appear to be developing a resistance to antibiotics, leading to fears that this could result in a new superbug making an appearance alongside MRSA and C. difficile.
But no matter how many reports are written concerning the issue, the fundamental truth is that superbugs and infections only thrive in hospitals that are falling below standards of cleanliness and hygiene. Those who comment on the situation and are involved with patient’s rights campaigns are concerned that the ‘target culture’ introduced by the government is starting to affect patient safety, leading to potentially more instances of an overstretched and overburdened NHS being sued for medical negligence claims.
The number of people suing the NHS is on the rise. Many people feel that this diverts much-needed funding away from primary care and into paying compensation. But medical negligence claims serve two purposes - making sure the victims of medical negligence receive the compensation they deserve and often need to pay for further treatment and rehabilitation, and to spotlight shortcomings within the system. Without this form of ‘self-regulation’, solicitors specialising in medical negligence cases worry that the death toll would be much higher.
If E. coli is the next potential superbug on the horizon, the NHS has to act before it becomes a real threat to the lives of those who expect to be treated in a safe and infection-free environment. Although nobody can ever claim that any hospital is completely free from the potential of infection, it has to be the NHS’ primary goal to reduce that potential as much as possible and maintain a level of care that its public has a right to expect.
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