Burstow demands explanation from Epsom & St Helier as Primary Care Trust slams hygiene standards

12.00.00am GMT Mon 25th Jun 2007

Paul Burstow, MP for Sutton and Cheam has written to the board of Epsom and St Helier Hospital Trust, demanding immediate action after figures published by the Health Commission revealed that the Trust was the UK's second worst for infection control standards.

In a self-assessment questionnaire sent out to Trusts by the Healthcare Commission, Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust admitted failing to meet 21 core standards, claiming to comply with the remaining 23 standards. The Trust stated it had failed to meet all 3 of the core hygiene codes identified in the questionnaire.

Mr Burstow has written to Epsom and St Helier Hospital Trust - from which the Primary Care Trust commissions most of its acute care - to demand an explanation for the failure to meet hygiene standards. Failure to meet basic hygiene and cleanliness standards has been identified as one of the key factors in increasing the risk of infection from diseases such as Clostridium Difficile and MRSA. Last year, St Helier Hospital was revealed to have one of the highest rates of Clostridium Difficile in the UK.

Speaking of his concerns about the findings Mr Burstow said:

"These results reveal a worrying lack of confidence in hygiene standards at local healthcare facilities."

"The fact that the Primary Care Trust could not be confident that local facilities meet any of the three hygiene standards is a matter for grave concern, particularly in the light of St Helier Hospital's record on hospital-acquired infections."

"It is also yet more evidence - if it were needed - that cost-driven cuts in cleaning services and staffing levels are contributing to poor hygiene standards, which in turn is putting patients at risk."

"I hope that the Trust will take this condemnation of its standards from Sutton and Merton as a signal of the need for immediate and decisive action."

Note to editors:

The Commission's checks on core standards are part of a new system of NHS assessment that uses self-declaration, performance data and inspection to target regulatory efforts where there is evidence of a problem. The Commission cross-checks the declarations using information such as clinical audits, surveys and performance data from other regulators.