National Health care in Britain.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Superbug cases here worse than in ‘death’ Trust

18 October 2007

EDITORIAL - herts.advertiser@archant.co.uk

CASES of a hospital-acquired superbug are higher in West Herts than in the Trust where it emerged last week that 90 people had died.

West Herts Hospitals Trust, which runs hospitals in St Al­bans, Watford and Hemel Hemp­stead, had 230 cases of Clostridium difficile (C.diff) in the first three months of 2007, the sixth highest in the country.

By contrast the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, which hit the headlines last week after 90 people were found to have died as a result of contracting C.diff, was rated 83rd.

St Albans MP Anne Main maintained the figures proved that patients inWest Herts were among the most at risk from C.diff. She pointed out that figures released for 2006 put West Herts in 17th place but it had moved up to sixth place in the first three months of this year.

She said: "The trust needs to reassure patients that they will not be exposed to unnecessary levels of risk and make renewed efforts to prioritise hospital hygiene."

Mrs Main said that official figures showed that deaths from C.diff nationally in­creased by nearly 400 per cent between 1999 and 2005 to the point where in 2005, more people in England and Wales died from the superbug than died on the roads.

http://www.hertsad.co.uk/content/herts/new...3A26%3A20%3A790

_______________________

Neonatal unit shut in MRSA scare

LONDON (Reuters) - A hospital in northern England has shut its neonatal intensive care unit after five babies tested positive for a strain of the superbug MRSA.

The unit at the Royal Blackburn Hospital has been closed to admissions since the middle of last month but news of the outbreak has only now been revealed.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1653692007

Just another example of what government healthcare is capable of. Still want it? Not me! I am sure some here are still all for it.

[Mags 112]

Just another example of what government healthcare is capable of. Still want it? Not me! I am sure some here are still all for it.

Really? You cannot base your entire idea of government healthcare on a couple of articles. The UK is covered with different NHS trusts, all have different funding amounts and all are run differently. I know this as I worked for the NHS for 8 years.

FYI MRSA is JUST as rampant in hospitals throughout the western world, not just the UK.

Edited October 20, 2007 by Mags

[Alex+R 0]

In 2005 MRSA killed more Americans than AIDS. The spread of it here is a major news story.

(http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2007/2007-10-19-01.asp)

Edited October 20, 2007 by Alex+R

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Britain 'worst in Europe' for superbug cases

By Francis Elliott, Deputy Political Editor

Last Updated: 7:29pm GMT 09/03/2002

PATIENTS in British hospitals are being exposed to the highest rates of "superbug" infection in Europe, according to alarming new figures.

Understaffing, overcrowding and poor hygiene have created a "cauldron" of infection in NHS hospitals, says a senior public health official responsible for tracking methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA), which is the most common cause of death from hospital-acquired infection in the UK. Rates of infection have been climbing dramatically in recent years.

Almost half of all Staphyloccus aureus recorded in Britain's hospitals is resistant to normal antibiotics, according to the latest bulletin of the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System, which calls the British figure "alarmingly high".

This article was from 2002

I guess these numbers are acceptable!

MORE: http://www.cosmeticbliss.co.uk/news/2007/0...-for-superbugs/

Edited October 20, 2007 by CarolsMarc

[Alex+R 0]

Same problems. Only worse. Here. Now. In America. Got it?

That article I posted was from yesterday.

[KaiserD 12]

That's interesting, most people here have never even heard of MRSA, I was under the impression it was quite a specific problem to the UK.

At least they (nationwide NHS trusts) have some sort of excuse with their need to balance budgets with all the cutbacks and management they have had to do.

What excuse do the US hospitals have seeing as they get money from patients and their insurance companies?? They have no excuse for cutting back on hygiene, anywhere. But then it's not like I run a hospital, perhaps there is other things I don't understand...

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Same problems. Only worse. Here. Now. In America. Got it?

That article I posted was from yesterday.

Bacteria comes from not keeping things clean!

AIDS comes from? Well, you know. Your use of death comparison stats is kinda foolish.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

That's interesting, most people here have never even heard of MRSA, I was under the impression it was quite a specific problem to the UK.

At least they (nationwide NHS trusts) have some sort of excuse with their need to balance budgets with all the cutbacks and management they have had to do.

What excuse do the US hospitals have seeing as they get money from patients and their insurance companies?? They have no excuse for cutting back on hygiene, anywhere. But then it's not like I run a hospital, perhaps there is other things I don't understand...

Yep, the media got ahold of the story. You can bet with all this attention, U.S hospitals will be all over it. MRSA can be avoided totally, just by keeping things clean. Which goes back to my original point. Brit hospitals cant do it based on their system being broke.

[trailmix 77]

Yep, the media got ahold of the story. You can bet with all this attention, U.S hospitals will be all over it. MRSA can be avoided totally, just by keeping things clean. Which goes back to my original point. Brit hospitals cant do it based on their system being broke.

That's kind of a stretch.

[Mags 112]

The NHS has its faults but, I assure you, it isn't a broken system. Give me the NHS, even with the MRSA, over American healthcare ANY DAY.

[KaiserD 12]

The NHS has its faults but, I assure you, it isn't a broken system. Give me the NHS, even with the MRSA, over American healthcare ANY DAY.

We all have our experiences which influence how we feel about health systems.

Seeing as they nearly killed my mother on something which didn't even need to be thought about, told another family member she had cancer and was going to die soon (and she didn't), made me fight for several years to get diagnosed with my illness (telling me I couldn't have it, it was unlikely for me to have it, don't bother coming back unless you can't get pregnant) and saying to mum who's life has been totally wrecked by her long term illness that "you should just be glad you don't have cancer" ...I'd be inclined to disagree with you.

I'm sure you have your own reasons also though.

[trailmix 77]

The NHS has its faults but, I assure you, it isn't a broken system. Give me the NHS, even with the MRSA, over American healthcare ANY DAY.

We all have our experiences which influence how we feel about health systems.

Seeing as they nearly killed my mother on something which didn't even need to be thought about, told another family member she had cancer and was going to die soon (and she didn't), made me fight for several years to get diagnosed with my illness (telling me I couldn't have it, it was unlikely for me to have it, don't bother coming back unless you can't get pregnant) and saying to mum who's life has been totally wrecked by her long term illness that "you should just be glad you don't have cancer" ...I'd be inclined to disagree with you.

I'm sure you have your own reasons also though.

You're right Kaiser - sometimes people do base their opinions on their own experiences, I'm sorry yours was not a good experience.

That said, even in the hugely privately funded U.S. system those same types of stories appear, I think it's a separate issue.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

The NHS has its faults but, I assure you, it isn't a broken system. Give me the NHS, even with the MRSA, over American healthcare ANY DAY.

June 30, 2006

British docs: national health service vs. U.S. market-based plan?

If the meeting of the British Medical Association (BMA) is representative of British physicians, writes BMJ editor Fiona Godlee, "there's an astonishing consensus among UK doctors about the health service (they) want." The BMA met in Belfast this week, and Godlee says "There was no mistaking the passion among BMA representatives for a publicly funded, freely available national health service....Equally overwhelming was rejection of US-style health care." She writes that those at the meeting agreed that the values of the current British National Health Service (NHS) could not be delivered through private corporations.

Godlee writes: "There's enough bad news about America's health system to justify this wholesale rejection. On top of the familiar spectacle of inefficient and fragmented care, spiralling costs, and growing inequities of access, there's now evidence that quality of care is patchy and worse overall than in other developed nations. There's an irony in the UK government being in thrall to US-style health care, while US commentators now hold as their exemplar the Veterans Health Administration—America's nearest thing to the NHS."

Nonethless, the BMA meeting showed the concerns over future directions of the British health care system. According to the BMJ, some doctors "blamed the government for the financial crisis in the NHS, saying that it has taken a record amount of money away from the care of patients and 'squandered' it on unproved reforms."Posted by schwitz at June 30, 2006 05:20 AM | TrackBack

This lady seems to be pro NHS also. She uses the words astonishing,passion. Then at the end she talks of crisis,record amounts of money,squandered. I love the hypocracy. I love the system,too bad its broken, she seems to be saying.

Seems odd she left out the fact these places are filthy. You are more likely to die in the hospital than on the highway? Thats pretty dam bad!

Yep, the media got ahold of the story. You can bet with all this attention, U.S hospitals will be all over it. MRSA can be avoided totally, just by keeping things clean. Which goes back to my original point. Brit hospitals cant do it based on their system being broke.

That's kind of a stretch.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

MRSA can be avoided totally, just by keeping things clean. Which goes back to my original point. Brit hospitals cant do it based on their system being broke.

And US hospitals can't do it because they're more concerned with their quarterly bottom line than quality care? Come on Marc, if you want to have a serious debate on this, start by acknowledging the very simple fact that MRSA has emerged as a major killer - outpacing AIDS - right here in the USofA where there is no such thing as a universal health care scheme of any sort. It's certainly not a phenomenon unique to the UK and I don't see any evidence of it being caused by universal health care models.

[cmartyn 0]

I think this story started out because of a few superbug cases in schools. You see, if it happens to children than it is important. Your Mom? Not so much. Anyhow, because the death rates in the US are so high from infections in hospitals, the right did what they always do and started rallying the troops to get the word out that it is worse in Britain. So if it is worse somewhere else, it must be better here than anywhere else. You see the logical jump there?

In any case it is better in many places. And yes, to just about wipe the problem out, all the doctors have to do is wash their hands. If you have ever been to the doctor you may have noticed that they walk from one examination room to the other.

When they are squeezing your balls and telling you to cough, what were they just doing in the other room? I don’t want to know.

Edited October 20, 2007 by cmartyn