Government Strategy on C Difficile Isn't Working - Lamb

2.27.54pm GMT Tue 30th Jan 2007

Following new figures showing the number of cases of Clostridium difficile rising, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb MP has written to the Health Secretary demanding action on the Government's stalled strategy to tackle hospital superbugs.

Figures released today by the Health Protection Agency show the number of cases of Clostridium difficile rose by 5.5% in England during the first three quarters of 2006.

Commenting, Mr Lamb said:

"These figures show that the Government strategy on Clostridium difficile clearly isn't working.

"I have written to the Health Secretary challenging the Government on key questions about it's stalled strategy to deal with superbugs.

"The Government's target has only focused on MRSA while other infections have been left to flourish. The recent leaked Department of Health memo showed that the Government now believes that C Difficile is endemic in hospitals.

"A focus on local targets is a belated admission by the Government that one size fits all national targets are not enough to deal with these problems.

"At the same time, hospital staff are being bombarded by reams of national targets in other areas, distracting them from helping patients and tackling infections.

"There must be an urgent investigation into the connection between high levels of antibiotic use and rates of hospital acquired infections. The evidence suggests that a simple change in prescribing habits could save many lives."

Norman Lamb MP has written to the Secretary of State for Health to ask:

What specific steps are the Government taking to shift the prescribing of antibiotics away from broad spectrum antibiotics?

How successful are those steps?

What are the trends in prescribing?

How has the Government responded to the findings of the national survey conducted by the Health Protection Agency?

Given the highly disturbing evidence revealed in the leaked memo that C Difficile is now endemic in the Health Service, and that many trusts are not taking it seriously, what steps is the Government taking to change this mindset?

Will the Government acknowledge that contradictory targets may be making the situation worse?

Does the Government accept that there is a direct link between bed occupancy and infection rates?