Hospital trusts must not get complacent in the fight against superbugs, a campaigner has warned.
Laura Probert joined the National Concern for Healthcare Infections (NCHI), which works to raise awareness of superbugs and other infections, after her mother died at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford three years ago.
She said: “She was in there because she fell and broke her hip, she was not ill. They operated and she got an MRSA infection in the wound.
“She was in hospital for three months and developed Clostridium difficile and e-coli as well – she just gave up in the end.”
Since the loss of her 82-year-old mother, Mrs Probert, who lives in Ramsgate, has been working on behalf of the NCHI and also plans to join LINk, the Local Involvement Network that will replace Patient and Public Involvement Forums.
“We were not told anything,” she said. “It was such a battle to get information, but it has picked up now and they are taking it more serious.”
Despite infection rates of MRSA and C diff decreasing in hospitals across the county, Mrs Probert is concerned that trusts could get complacent and resort back to bad practice.
KOS Media has been running a campaign to help doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals in their battle against superbugs.
The award-winning publishers have been raising awareness that simply washing your hands at home and work using soap and water and the alcohol hand washing gel provided in hospitals is the simplest way to stop infection spreading.
Mrs Probert is speaking at the Westminster Health Forum in May about monitoring hand hygiene procedures and welcomed KOS Media’s campaign.
“I think the message is getting through to doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, but I think they do need to target patients and visitors.”
For more information about pressure group NCHI visit www.nc-hi.com.
POSTED: 20/04/2008 09:00:00
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