Written question asked by Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 5 December 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 17 December 2002. It was answered by David Lammy (Labour) on Tuesday, 17 December 2002 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many MRSA patients were recorded in NHS hospitals in each of the last eight years; how many and what proportion of NHS hospitals recorded MRSA outbreaks; and how many and what proportion of NHS hospitals have full-time staff dedicated to the prevention and control of MRSA and related infections. - Includes ref to 390 c520-2W, 14 October 2002, and fact that these data are not collected centrally. (Holding answer 12 December 2002).

Answer: Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many MRSA patients were recorded in NHS hospitals in each of the last eight years; how many and what proportion of NHS hospitals recorded MRSA outbreaks; and how many and what proportion of NHS hospitals have full-time staff dedicated to the prevention and control of MRSA and related infections. [86683] Mr. Lammy :[holding answer 12 December 2002]: These data are not collected centrally and I refer the hon. Member to the reply he received on 14 October 2002, Official Report column 521W. This provides the available data on methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) blood stream infections until April 2001 when mandatory MRSA bacteraemia surveillance was introduced. Data from the new surveillance system are available for every acute national health service hospital trust and the first year's results were published in the Communicable Disease Report Weekly on 20 June 2002 and are on the Public Health Laboratory Service website at www.phls.co.uk/publications/ cdr/PDFfiles/2002/cdr2502.pdf. Information on the composition of infection control teams is not collected routinely.

Secondary information