A HAND hygiene champion has been appointed by NHS Lothian to tackle deadly hospital superbugs.
Cases of MRSA and clostridium difficile (C-diff) are still running at high levels, according to new figures obtained by the Evening News. At least 200 patients were diagnosed with MRSA at hospitals in the Lothians last year, while more than 1500 case
s of C-diff were recorded.
Ann McQueen has now swapped her role as duty manager at Edinburgh's Western General Hospital to become the region's hand hygiene co-ordinator.
She will carry out audits at hospitals, and raise awareness among NHS Lothians' 28,000-strong staff about the need to improve procedures.
Some politicians have warned that money could be better spent in wards, but NHS Lothian, which received funding from the Executive as part of a new national campaign, said the appointment has already made an impact.
Ms McQueen said: "My job will involve raising awareness throughout NHS Lothian and instilling a change of culture by improving current hand hygiene practice, as well as working with our partners in the local authorities, health and social care, nurseries and care homes, GP practices and clinics.
"Infection control is something that I've always been enthusiastic about and it played a major part in my BSc and MBA studies in healthcare management."
New figures show the number of cases of the antibiotic-resistant bug MRSA in the Lothians has risen by about a third since 2004, although statistics for St John's Hospital in Livingston were not included until 2005.
Organ transplant patients are particularly vulnerable because their immune systems are not able to fight infection, while the superbugs are also high on wards where patients are elderly.
ERI bosses were criticised last year after the hospital was named the second dirtiest in Scotland in a national audit.
Monitoring systems have since been tightened and alcohol-based hand soap has been placed beside beds and at entrances to wards.
There were 111 cases of MRSA at the ERI last year, marginally up from 108 in 2005 - although the hospital treated 6000 extra in-patients. Instances of C-diff at the Little France site dropped from 525 to 442 - below the number of cases at the Western, which dealt with about 20,000 fewer patients.
There were a high number of cases of both superbugs at Liberton Hospital, which specialises in medicine for elderly patients.
Carol Fraser, interim associate director of health protection with NHS Lothian, said: "These figures indicate that we are continuing to keep the number of MRSA cases stable at around the same rate we have experienced for the last five years. We are, however, not complacent and are working hard to control this problem.
"Our new hand hygiene co-ordinator is having an impact on reinforcing the importance of hand hygiene to staff and visitors throughout our hospitals."
NHS Lothian declined to reveal how much Ms McQueen was being paid for her 15-month role. Her job will involve designing innovative ways to promote the importance of hand hygiene, as well as helping produce posters and leaflets, and taking part in patient forums to raise awareness of the issue.
Simon White, hand hygiene project manager with Health Protection Scotland, said: "The appointment of local health board co-ordinators within each NHS board is vitally important in helping to ensure the success of the [national] campaign."
But Dr Nanette Milne, the Scottish Conservative health spokeswoman, said: "I would like to see more effort made at local levels, ensuring staff on wards are properly trained. A co-ordinator can't be everywhere to do that."
Is appointing a hand hygiene champion enough to stop the bugs?
Mary Dawkins, 44, caterer, Prestonfield: "Is that all they can come up with? It's going to take more than another manager to tackle the problem."
Jean Thomas, 68, retired, Ratho: "It's a terrible thing to worry about when you're ill, and I'm sure all the nurses will be very careful to wash their hands. Little things can make a big difference, especially with hygiene, so I hope the bugs get wiped out."
Dennis Forsyth, 30, engineer, Corstorphine: "You've got to start somewhere - it's a difficult thing to get rid of but, if everyone pulls their weight, I say give it a go."
