Written question asked by Lord Lansley (Conservative) on Friday, 13 October 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 17 October 2006. It was answered by Derek Twigg (Labour) on Tuesday, 7 November 2006 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Healthcare-related infections

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his most recent estimate is of (a) MRSA and (b) clostridium difficile rates per 1,000 bed days in military field hospitals (i) in total and (ii) broken down by field hospital.

Answer: Because of the nature of the wards, patient flow and hygiene standards in our field hospitals, we estimate the prevalence of MRSA and clostridium difficile to be very low tending to negligible. As a result, medical personnel only screen a patient if they have clinical indicators of an infection. There are no known cases where a patient has shown signs of infection or tested positively for either organism in UK military field hospitals in 2006.

Secondary information