Drop in Hospital infections makes West Herts top Trust

A HUGE drop in a hospital-acquired infection in West Herts has made the local Trust the most improved in the country. New C-difficile infection figures for England just published by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) show that between April and June th

A HUGE drop in a hospital-acquired infection in West Herts has made the local Trust the most improved in the country.

New C-difficile infection figures for England just published by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) show that between April and June this year, West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust had the biggest percentage decrease in their infections compared to a year ago than any other acute hospital in the country.

The HPA figures show a reduction in West Herts - which takes in St Albans City, Hemel Hempstead and Watford Hospitals - of 64 per cent compared to 21 per cent nationally.

Trust chief executive Jan Filochowski said that while the HPA figures confirmed the enormous improvements the trust had made, more up-to-date figures showed an even greater improvement.

"Our C.difficile infection rates show a staggering reduction in the last 12 months - 86 cases in August 2007 and only four in August 2008."

He put the improvement down to the introduction of a number of measures to combat infections including reinforcing hand hygiene, opening isolation wards, weekly hygiene audits and reducing the prescribing of certain antibiotics which reduced resistance to infections.