Written question asked by Paul Marsden (Independent (affiliation)) on Wednesday, 16 March 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 6 April 2005. It was answered by Stephen Ladyman (Labour) on Wednesday, 6 April 2005 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many MRSA infections there were in the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in each year since 1997.

Answer: Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many MRSA infections there were in the Royal Shrewsbury hospital in each year since 1997. [223179] Dr. Ladyman: The information is not available in the format requested. The Royal Shrewsbury hospital was a separate acute trust until October 2003, when it merged with the Princess Royal hospital to form the Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals national health service trust. From October 2003 onward, data for the Royal Shrewsbury hospital alone is not available. The mandatory surveillance system which collects data on methicillin resistant "Staphylococcus aureus" (MRSA) bloodstream infections commenced in April 2001 and gives data by NHS trust only and not hospital. The table shows relevant data for the years 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04 and the first six months of the reporting year 2004-05. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Number of MRSA bacteraemia reports MRSA rate per 1,000 bed days Royal Shrewsbury hospital April 2001 to March 2002 18 0.11 April 2002 to March 2003 20 0.12 Shrewsbury and Telford hospital NHS trust April 2003 to March 2004 58 0.20 April 2004 to September 2004 24 0.16 _________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Secondary information