UK's increased cleaning investment coincides with falling reported cases of MRSA


According to the government’s latest annual Hospital Estates and Facilities Statistics report, the NHS spent an additional 10% on cleaning hospitals in the past year.
The newly released comprehensive estate management data for 2009-10 revealed that spending on hospital cleaning services rose from £820m to £900m, an increase of 9.7%, reports www.cleanzine.com.
The data coincides with an external report from the Health Protection Agency, which showed that the number of reported cases of hospital-acquired MRSA infections is also on the wane.
In the financial year 2008/09, there was a 34% fall in the number of reported cases of MRSA, while in 2007/08, the cases per 10,000 bed days sunk to 0.79, down from 1.19 on the previous year. “This trend, where increased spending is being mirrored by declining rates of MRSA, is very encouraging. It shows that the extra investment in cleaning is being reflected in a substantial reduction of one the greatest threats facing hospital patients today,” says Mark Woodhead, Chairman of the British Cleaning Council.
[24/01/2011]