Following public concerns over the outbreak of Clostridium Difficile (C diff) in the Northern Trust, the minister announced a major £9million investment and a comprehensive range of measures to tackle healthcare associated infections (HCAIs). These included: unannounced hygiene inspections; single rooms for new hospitals; challenging targets to reduce C diff and MRSA; a dress code for staff; restrictions on hospital visiting and rapid response cleaning teams.
The General Registers Office (GRO) was asked to carry out an immediate exercise by DHSSPS to produce figures for the number of cases where C diff was mentioned on a death certificate during 2007. GRO has produced provisional figures (detailed below) which show that the interim figure for 2007 is 77 deaths where C diff is mentioned on a death certificate, compared to 63 in 2006.
The minister said: “I fully acknowledge that the current outbreak of the virulent 027 strain of C difficile in the Northern Trust is of great concern to the public. That is why I announced an extensive range of measures aimed at fighting superbugs in our hospitals. It is clear that we can never fully eradicate infections such as MRSA and C diff. In the case of C difficile, around 30% of elderly people and some 3% of healthy young adults carry the bug. However, by following robust and stringent infection control measures it is possible to reduce the rates of infection. That is why I have set the challenging target of a reduction in C diff by 20% by March 2009.
“We all have a part to play and it is by simple measures such as washing your hands, reporting any incidents of poor hygiene practise and obeying hospital visiting policies that we can all make a real difference.
“I realise that this has been a difficult period for all healthcare staff who take the issue of hospital infections extremely seriously. Just like the public, they do not want a patient coming into their hospital and picking up a serious infection. I want to thank staff for their continued hard work and professionalism in tackling these superbugs.
“While these are provisional figures it is clear that the current outbreak in the Northern Trust has led to the increase in incidents where C diff is mentioned on death certificates between 2006 to 2007.
“Prevention and detection must be our key focus. Patients must be, as far as possible, prevented from picking up such infections in the first place. If they do have infections, they must be identified, contained and isolated and then we must ensure patients are treated quickly and appropriately.
“I want the public to have confidence in the care provided by hospitals and healthcare staff. We must never lose sight of the fact that hundreds of thousands of people go into our hospitals every year and receive high quality, life-saving care. For my part, I vow to continue to do everything in my power to support health trusts in the fight against superbugs.”
Notes to Editors:
- On 6 February DHSSPS officials requested GRO to provide quarterly information on deaths registered where Clostridium Difficile is noted on death certificate as the underlying cause or, separately, where it was mentioned as a contributory cause. They asked that this be undertaken and published as soon as possible. Such information is currently produced once a year. Statistics for 2006 were published in June 2007.
- Deaths are registered by the General Register Office on receipt of information from District Registration Offices or the Coroners Office. Information on cause of death is coded in accordance with the World Health Organisation (WHO) procedures so as to facilitate international comparison on a standard basis. Deaths caused by “enterocolitis due to Clostridium difficile” infection, can be identified using the WHO International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, code A.04.7. Additional work is then done looking at the ICD codes that are related to Clostridium difficile and searching the cause of death text field on the death certificate for mentions of Clostridium difficile, C.difficile or pseudomembranous colitis.
- Codes used to identify deaths where Clostridium difficile was the underlying cause of death (on deaths where Clostridium difficile was mentioned) are A.04.7, A.09, A.41.4, A.49.8 and P.36.5.
- Information has been produced for the first nine months of 2007. Provisional figures for quarter 1 to 3 in the registration year 2007, by place of death are presented.
- In GRO a special exercise has been undertaken which entails detailed checking of death registrations for references to Clostridium Difficile and producing figures for the most recent quarter which can be used as a check on hospital data. Such GRO figures are interim as they have not have gone through the full checking process.
- Provisional figures from General Registrars Office. To view go to www.dhsspsni.gov.uk\cdiffpressrelease.doc
- Media enquiries to Clare Baxter at the DHSSPS Press Office on 028 9052 0636, mobile 07919400248, or out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 076 9971 5440 and your call will be returned.
