Welcome To The Wonderful World…..

….Of socialized medicine. One hospital of the British National Health System, the Good Hope Hospital, has had a rash of drug resistant infections lately. It's a national leader in infecting people, in fact. So now, to combat that problem, the hospital administration has come up with a new plan.

Stop changing sheets and other bedding between patients.

Cleaners at an NHS hospital with a poor record on superbugs have been told to turn over dirty sheets instead of using fresh ones between patients to save money.

Housekeeping staff at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, have been asked to re-use sheets and pillowcases wherever possible to cut a £500,000 laundry bill.

Posters in the hospital's linen cupboards and on doors into the A&E department remind workers that each item costs 0.275 pence to wash.

Good Hope reported a deficit of £6million last year and was subject to a report by the Audit Commission because of its poor financial standing.

It recorded 36 cases of MRSA from April last year to January, while cases of clostridium difficile have more than doubled in less than a year to 327. A Government hit squad was drafted in to solve the infection problems last year but the trust is still failing to hit MRSA targets.

Tony Field, chairman of Birmingham-based MRSA Support, said: 'Is that all the safety of a patient's life is worth? 0.275 pence?

'It is utterly disgraceful and tantamount to murder because hygiene like changing sheets is essential to protect patients.

Is you're wondering just what MRSA is, it stands for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Also called a "superbug" by the British press. The Centers for Disease Control has this charming little data page up about this infection as well. It includes this guidance:

Basic infection control practices are key to the prevention and control of MRSA in healthcare settings. The following resources provide recommendations for the prevention and control of many healthcare-associated diseases and infections including infections with drug resistant organisms such as MRSA.

That would start with hygiene. That is the first principle of infection control. Still think national health care is a good deal?

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  By Chris, Saturday, 14 April , 2007 @ 8:08 am

  Obviously, the British are just not doing it right. The NHS must be a perversion of true socialized medicine.

  I blame Stalin.

Other Links to this Post

1. Blue Crab Boulevard » Not-So-Great News — Wednesday, 2 May , 2007 @ 9:42 pm