Bed closures will cause infection rates to rise at St Helier - Burstow

12.00.00am GMT Wed 24th Jan 2007

Paul Burstow, MP for Sutton and Cheam, has branded bed closures planned by Epsom and St Helier Hospital Trust a "false economy", during a debate with Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt. The statement came during a debate in the House of Commons on health-care acquired infection rates.

Mr Burstow asked how Hospitals such as St Helier could be expected to keep infection rates low while using beds more intensively. Epsom and St Helier Hospital Trust plan to cut around 1 in 4 beds over the next 18 months, meaning that bed-occupancy rates for the remaining beds will be driven upwards

Commenting after the debate, Paul Burstow MP said:

"Epsom and St Helier already has one of the worst rates of superbug Clostridium Difficile infections in the country."

"With fewer beds and fewer staff, the Trust will be forced to use existing beds more intensively, which will drive infection rates even higher."

"This is yet another example of the short-term thinking driven by the need to save - I fear that it will prove to be a false economy as the long-term costs of higher infection rates become apparent."