Work harder to beat hospital bug (From Times Series)

Work harder to beat hospital bug

11:37am Wednesday 7th February 2007

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I write with regard to your article Superbug infections drop' (February 1).

I am not sure what Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital is so proud of. Between July and September, 162 cases were reported there compared to just 47 cases of Clostridium difficile at North Middlesex Hospital for the same period.

These cases were reported during the summer months, when hospital admissions decrease, and yet they are the highest figures in London - as they were in 2005. This shows that although it may seem that the hospital's number of cases has dropped, it still hasn't learned lessons or done enough to tackle this lethal infection.

I set up a support group to help and advise people in April 2006 following the death of my grandmother who contracted the infection in August 2005 in the North Middlesex Hospital. My site (www.cdiff-support.co.uk) receives an average of 9,000 hits a day.

Clostridium difficile is a very serious problem in our hospitals; these figures show that Barnet and Chase Farm has a tough job on its hands and needs to work much harder in educating staff on how to handle this problem and reduce these figures.

Graziella Kontkowski Palmers Green

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