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Health Care-Associated Infections

The evidence is overwhelming. I am worried that, rather than moving in the right direction towards the level that the Department believes to be appropriate, the figures are going in the wrong direction. In 1996-97, overall bed occupancy was at 80.7 per cent, whereas it had reached 85.3 per cent. by 2006-07. That is the average, and the House must bear it in mind that many hospitals will be way above that level, as I have already said. The hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) referred to the leaked report from the Department of Health. It said that hospitals with occupancy rates above 90 per cent. have MRSA rates 42 per cent. higher than average. Professor Barry Cookson of the Health Protection Agency said in 2004:"““We have got to get down to 85 per cent.””" Moreover, Alison Holmes, a specialist in infectious disease at Imperial college, said:"““The issue about bed capacity and throughput really does undermine best infection control practice.””" How has the Secretary of State responded to the Healthcare Commission report? He rightly condemns what happened in that trust, but there are questions for the Government as well. Does he accept the Healthcare Commission's position on occupancy rates, and will he review the extent to which overcrowding is associated with an increased risk—and by that I do not mean that every full hospital has a high rate—of hospital-acquired infections?