Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Pitkeathley (Labour). It was answered by Lord Warner (Labour) on Wednesday, 30 November 2005.

MRSA

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to reports that tests for methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) may be falsely positive as a result of using a single laboratory.

Answer: My Lords, I am sure that the whole House congratulates my noble friend on that. Laboratories doing microbiological investigations should be accredited or registered for accreditation. Tests must be undertaken in accordance with approved standards and operating procedures. The results should be validated by process controls, internal quality control and participation in an external quality assurance program. It is disappointing that test results for MRSA produced by unsound methods are given wide publicity in the media. This causes unnecessary public concern and wastes NHS resources in countering them.

Secondary information