Fines for HCAIs ‘Unfair’ say Experts

A team from Oxford University and the Medical Research Council have expressed the opinion that the new system of fining Trusts for HCAIs that is to commence next year is inherently unfair. The article in this weeks BMJ even goes as far as arguing that under the proposed system financial penalties will be almost impossible to avoid. There are clear anomalies in the system and the authors point to a scenario where, because of the mathemetics, an organisation may have 199 cases and recieve no penalty, whereas a single extra case will push them into a fine of 2% of contract revenue which could amount to millions of pounds. Thankfully these penalties are at the discretion of PCTs, some of which may wish to look to return the penalty to the ‘offending’ organisation in a ring-fenced manner to be spent on Infection Prevention measures.

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