C. diff falls, media recognition
The latest figures from the Health Protection Agency show a 37% fall in the number of reported cases of C. difficile when compared with the same period (April – June) in the previous year. This has at last been reported in a positive way in the media. Cause for celebration? No. Cause for optimism? Possibly, if this is sustained. There is now every chance that the DH Target of a 30% reduction could be met in the first year. That would be good news; not because the target would be met, but because it would demonstrate that effective Infection Prevention and Control produces tangible benefits for the NHS and not least to the patients. The achievement of significant reductions in healthcare-associated infections should be a wake-up to those who feel that healthcare infections are an inevitable consequence of treating an increasingly ageing population with ever more invasive methods.
The message is clear. Infection Prevention and Control works; for patients and their families, for individual organisations and for the NHS as a whole.
