ALL patients admitted to hospital for routine operations are to be tested for MRSA as part of a pilot programme aimed at destroying the superbug.
Three health boards will take part in the £5.2 million, year-long Scottish Government scheme, which could benefit almost a million patients.
If they test positive, they will undergo a five-day course of antiseptic skin washes and antibiotic oint
ment applied to the nostrils – unless this hinders their immediate treatment – before being tested again.
Announcing the pilot scheme yesterday, Nicola Sturgeon, the health secretary, said the government, which has pledged to cut superbugs by 30 per cent by 2010, was committed to rolling the scheme out across the whole of Scotland from next year at an annual cost of £16 million.
The pilots are taking place in the Ayrshire and Arran, Western Isles and Grampian health board areas.
Experts and patients' groups welcomed the move – although there were calls for a nationwide scheme to be implemented immediately.
Scotland currently spends £183 million a year in the fight against MRSA.
During a visit to Kilmarnock's Crosshouse Hospital, which is involved in the pilot, Ms Sturgeon said: "It's crucial that the public have confidence in their NHS and know they're going to get the best possible care if they need hospital treatment.
"Healthcare-associated infection is a problem for health services around the world, and Scotland is no different. But we're determined to do all we can to minimise the risk that patients will contract MRSA, which can cause unnecessary complications.
"A simple swab as part of the pre-admission process is all it takes to establish whether a patient has MRSA.
"Many people carry the bug on their skin or in their nose, but it is only when it enters an open wound that it causes problems – that is why we are introducing screening for hospital patients.
"In tandem with initiatives such as our national hand- hygiene campaign and a new reporting system for C diff, MRSA screening will help us meet our target to reduce Staph aureus (which includes MRSA] blood infections by 2010."
Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, welcomed the project. He told The Scotsman: "People have realised that this really has to be done now if we are to tackle MRSA.
"It's quite expensive, but if you look at the total costs of tackling MRSA, let alone the human suffering it involves, the cost of screening should make a saving. We know that, with any system, people sometimes slip through the net but I would be surprised if this does not reap benefits.
"The only thing that needs to be done now is make sure people are isolated when cases of MRSA are identified, but this would incur extra cost."
Margaret Watt, who chairs the Scottish Patients' Association, said: "We have been campaigning for this for such a long time; it is excellent to know it is finally going ahead. But it should be rolled out all across Scotland now, not in a year's time. Doing it piecemeal means not all patients will be able to access the same treatment.
"Each and every patient should be swabbed for MRSA before they reach each and every hospital, not just in selected areas. It sounds like common sense to us – why hasn't routine testing on admissions happened before?"
IN NUMBERS1,652
The number of people in the UK who died of MRSA in 2006.
£30,000
The amount that Greater Glasgow NHS Board is being sued for by Elizabeth Miller, 71, of Kilsyth, after surgery in 2001 to replace a heart valve resulted in MRSA infection.
5
The number of common strains of MRSA killed in clinical trials of a new drug treatment, XF-73, made by Destiny Pharma.
3 out of 10
The number of people carrying MRSA bacterium on their skin.
Almost one in 10
The number of patients who get infections in Scottish hospitals – the highest rate in the UK.
6,480
The number of hospital patients killed by C diff in 2006, up 72 per cent on the previous year.
94
The number of people who died between 2002-6 of MRSA-related illness at Derriford Hospital, in Plymouth – the highest rate in the UK.
The full article contains 724 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
