C difficile outbreak at Scots hospital leaves five patients dead

Published on Tuesday 10 November 2009 21:30

FIVE patients have died in an outbreak of the Clostridium difficile bug in a Scottish hospital, it emerged yesterday.

NHS Tayside revealed that eight elderly patients had been struck with the infection on a ward in Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.

The outbreak led to two patients dying with C difficile as their main cause of death, with three more deaths where it was a contributory factor.

The latest deaths follow a number of C difficile outbreaks in Scottish hospitals in recent years, the most deadly of which saw 18 patients die at the Vale of Leven Hospital.

Yesterday, opposition politicians said the new outbreak showed the Scottish Government was still failing in its responsibility to tackle hospital-acquired infections.

But health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said a series of measures had been introduced to reduce rates of infections and deaths across Scotland.

NHS Tayside said of the eight elderly people in ward 31 who contracted C difficile, seven had the 027 strain of the infection which is more serious. The outbreak, which was only made public yesterday, was declared by the health board on 19 October, when the ward was closed to new admissions.

The Scottish Government was informed on 21 October.

NHS Tayside said all five deaths in the outbreak occurred over the course of 18 days, between 19 October and 6 November.

Dr Gabby Phillips, lead infection-control doctor for Ninewells Hospital, said: "In line with our infection-control procedures and, as a precautionary measure, we closed the ward to new admissions while we were managing the infection and the ward remains closed."

Dr Phillips said no new cases of C difficile had been identified in the ward for ten days.

Last year, C difficile was listed as the main cause of death in 248 patients in Scotland, and as a contributory factor in a further 517 deaths.

The outbreak at the Vale of Leven Hospital in Dunbartonshire prompted widespread concern about the extent of infections in Scottish Hospitals.

Earlier this year, Ms Sturgeon announced that a public inquiry would be held into the outbreak at the Vale.

Yesterday Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said she was "shocked and concerned" to learn that five patients had died in an outbreak at Ninewells Hospital.

"What we are seeing here is the cost of Nicola Sturgeon's complacency and failure to learn lessons from the Vale of Leven," she said.

Ms Sturgeon said she had been receiving regular updates on the outbreak at Ninewells.

"My thoughts are, first and foremost, with the families of all those affected and I would like to reassure them that everything possible is being done – both to bring the current outbreak to a close and to ensure that lessons are learned," she said.

"NHS Tayside have established an outbreak control team to both thoroughly investigate the cause of the outbreak and to ensure that all necessary infection control measures are in place."