No new cases of hospital-acquired infections for year, says NHS Shetland

There have been no new cases of hospital-acquired infections in the past 12 months, according to a report produced by NHS Shetland.

The staphylcoccus aureus organism is responsible for several healthcare associated infections, including MRSA, which is resistant to certain antibiotics and difficult to treat, and the less virulent but more common MSSA.

No new cases of either bacteraemias, which are monitored at local and national level, have been reported since last year. Patients being admitted to hospital have been screened for MRSA since January.

Neither have there been any new cases of clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in the past year, making the incidence in Shetland well below the national average.

The success in the battle against infection is largely attributed to good hand hygiene by staff, visitors and patients and rigorous cleaning. Hand hygiene compliance (cleaning hands before entering clinical areas) was 99.4 per cent in October and cleaning standards compliance was 96.3 per cent.