MRSA Superbugs
Superbugs and target culture; is it undermining confidence in the NHS?
The public’s perception of an NHS riddled with MRSA and C. difficle and driven only by targets rather than patient care is perhaps a little extreme. But a worrying report released by AXA PPP has confirmed that’s exactly what the public does think and that cleanliness is a major issue in the public image presented by the health service.
The poll was carried out by OnePoll in July 2009 on 2,000 people. The results said that a third of people believe that real cuts in NHS spending are on the way, regardless of which political party comes to power at the next election. Only 23% believe that the NHS is currently winning the war on cleanliness and 62% say they are worried about catching an infection during a stay in hospital. 8% said that they had contracted some kind of bug during a hospital stay.
The poll reinforces statistics showing an alarming increase in the number of people wanting to sue the NHS for contracting so-called ‘superbugs’ such as MRSA and C. difficile. The situation isn’t helped with conflicting reports released regularly as to how one hospital is a shining example of cleanliness while yet another is failing in its duty of care towards patients by poor cleanliness and a high incidence of superbug infection. The poll highlights public concern about the stewardship of the NHS by the government. Interpreting the data shows that those questioned have issues with the cost effectiveness of its spending record - particularly in the debate of money used for ‘red tape’ issues versus patient care - as well as the impact the ‘target culture’ has had on how hospitals are now operated.
Only 20% of respondents agreed that the increased funding given to the NHS by the government was money well spent, while 62% felt that government pressure had made NHS staff more concerned with hitting targets rather than with the quality of patient care. In this kind of climate it is inevitable that a public with an inherent mistrust of the system will be far more aware of its failings and subsequently be more willing to apportion blame for bugs and illnesses caused by what they see as a fundamental failing in the management of the system. Hence, the increase in the number of medical negligence claims being brought.
Anxiety breeds wariness and as only 35% of those questioned believed that a hospital was a safe place to be. That leaves an overwhelming majority of people thinking that hospitals are not safe. If their experience of the system is then one of a catalogue of failures - from unclean wards, long waiting times or misdiagnosis - it is only right that they should then highlight those failings by hitting the NHS where it hurts most; in the pocket. But it’s not just a matter of compensation (although those who have suffered medical negligence or poor treatment have a fundamental right to be compensated for their suffering). It’s also a matter of drawing attention of these failings to the health service itself so that improvements can be made.
What the public is concerned about, though, is that these lessons are not being learned quickly enough to prevent further suffering. The allocation of increased funding has not resulted in a reduction of the number of medical negligence cases - the numbers have increased. With the prospect of funding being cut in the future, the concerns of the public and those who pick up the pieces in the forms of claims experts, solicitors and the families themselves are that the situation is going to get worse. A third of those questioned in the survey believe that ‘topping up’ through private medical insurance would become more popular - and that is a fundamental condemnation of public opinion in a system that is supposed to be for the benefit of everyone.
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