NI hospitals face 'superbug' checks
Staff in acute hospitals Northern Ireland face MRSA monitoring by members of the public from tomorrow to see they are maintain hygiene standards.
The “Bugwatch Survey” is being undertaken in a bid to calm public concerns about the spread of superbugs in hospitals.
The exercise is being undertaken by the four Health & Social Service Councils (HSSCs) in the North as part of work on infection control and prevention.
The councils are independent of those who plan, manage and provide health care services and were set up by the British government to represent the views and opinions of the public.
Members of the councils – ordinary members of the public – will be visiting acute hospital wards across the North to observe levels of hygiene.
They will examine the availability of hand washing or cleansing facilities on wards, laundry sorting and displays of advice to visitors.
Bugwatch is being kicked off in Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital and will cover some eight main hospitals across the North.
The findings will be used to inform the councils’ ongoing work in representing the public in relation to infection control.
Stella Cunningham, chief officer of the southern HSSC said they were responding to increasing levels of public concern about the rates of healthcare-acquired infections such as MRSA and clostridium difficile.
She said the hoped to address concerns by keeping a “watching brief on infection control”.
She said: “The exercise is a timely one given that the current consultation on the development of a regional infection control strategy is due to end.
“We hope the results will feed into the strategy.”
Ms Cunningham said while it was not a scientific exercise, it was important that the public were included in a greater partnership approach to controlling infection.
The Bugwatch surveys are based on a model developed in England by the Commission for Public and Patient Involvement in Health.
