Politicians back MRSA calls

THE region's MPs have thrown their weight behind the EADT's campaign to clean up our hospitals and stamp out the killer MRSA bug.

Backed by the family of the country's youngest-ever MRSA victim Luke Day the EADT is asking for your support to put pressure on the Government and NHS Trusts to commit to five key pledges. They are:-

n To reduce the number of MRSA cases in our hospitals,

n To increase the number of cleaning staff in hospitals,

n To swab test people for MRSA before they are admitted to hospital,

n To enforce compulsory hand washing upon entering and leaving wards for both staff and visitors,

n To enforce higher general levels of cleanliness throughout our hospitals.

Luke was just 36-hours old when he died of MRSA-related Septicaemia in Ipswich Hospital on February 3.

His parents, Glynis Day, 17, and Kevin Fenton, 24, of Woodbridge, had to fight to get MRSA recognised as the cause of his death.

And our campaign, launched in his memory, seeks to stamp out MRSA in our hospitals once and for all. We intend to present the petition to Health Secretary John Reid.

John Gummer, Conservative MP for Suffolk Coastal, whose constituency covers Woodbridge, said: “It's four years now since I first raised the question of cleanliness in Ipswich Hospital.

“I'm very sad that it should have taken a tragedy like this awful case of the death of a child to highlight it in this way.

“I readily give my support to the EADT campaign and I hope that every visitor, as well as every member of staff, recognises their responsibility.”

Chris Mole, Labour MP for Ipswich, backed the campaign and added: “I welcome anything that helps the hospital authorities get on top of this problem.

“Until something can be found that overcomes the resistance of Staphylococcus to antibiotic treatment then we need to take these measures to get the incidents down in both hospitals and the wider community.

“I particularly welcome the enforcement of compulsory hand hygiene using the alcohol wash for everyone coming in and out of hospital.”

David Ruffley, Conservative MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, said: “I praise the EADT for being responsible about this.

“You've listed five measures which are sensible, much needed and, in my view, should have been best practice in the NHS for many years.

“I'm sorry that your campaign is needed, but unless these pledges are met, I fear there will be more needless deaths in Suffolk, and more grieving families.

“I would also add a sixth pledge - put matron back in charge.”

Richard Spring, Conservative MP for West Suffolk, also congratulated the EADT on launching our campaign.

He added figures showed that in the UK 44% of Staphylococcus Aureus bugs in hospitals are methicillin-resistant, compared to 19% in Germany and just 1% in Holland and Denmark.

“It's simply beyond belief to have a child die like this - it's heartbreaking,” Mr Spring said. “What we have is a situation whereby international comparisons are absolutely appalling and your campaign is entirely correct.

“The background to what you're doing is an absolutely dire situation for the NHS in terms of debts, cancelled operations and declining beds.”

Alan Hurst, Labour MP for Braintree, said: “I fully support your campaign. This was a terrible tragedy, and we want to avoid any repetition of it.

“Cleanliness is hugely important. I believe that hospitals are seeking, in many cases, to make changes, and I also think it would be helpful if they considered taking cleaning staff back in house rather than contracting them out.”

Simon Burns, Tory MP for Chelmsford West, said: “I warmly support any initiative by the EADT to highlight the problem and to bring pressure on the health service locally to ensure this is a top priority of theirs.

“This Government has failed miserably on the question of containing MRSA and keeping our hospitals clean.”