---

Health Care-Associated Infections

I shall be brief, and stick to the present rather than looking back to the time of Florence Nightingale. I begin by praising all our nurses and doctors, not only in my constituency but throughout the country. They do a wonderful job and we should be proud of them. I want to consider what affects my constituency and start with the case of a 40-year-old man, whom I visited at his home because he was too ill to come to my surgery. He had been admitted to Whipps Cross hospital, one of two hospitals that services my constituency, with a severe orthopaedic complaint. He was then transferred to the Royal orthopaedic hospital, so I make no accusation about where he contracted MRSA. However, he contracted it. Six months on, he has been unable to work, go out properly or function normally. It has wrecked his life. Those things are affecting our constituents today. Another case is that of a lady whose daughter took her to King George hospital. Tragically, she lost her life through C. difficile. I will not go into more detail because the family has asked for formal investigations into the matter. I also want to cite the case of my daughter, who went into Barnet general hospital when she was pregnant earlier this year. My wife and I visited her. I used the alcohol scrub to wash my hands, but I noticed many visitors to the hospital not using it and not being asked to use it. That is not the fault of the nurses on duty, who are simply rushed off their feet and unable to do that. I blame the management and the powers that be, but I do so pragmatically—I am not looking today to have a political go at anybody. We need to try to resolve the problem, for the sake of all our constituents. Mention was made earlier of the chief executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust. The House might be interested to learn that her partner was the chief executive of our trust, Barking, Havering and Redbridge trust, who surprisingly resigned within seven days of her resigning, allegedly—the trust will not release the figures—receiving a substantial sum of money for going on and furthering his career elsewhere.