Politicians on all sides of the Scottish Parliament have told the SNP Government to implement Labour's action plan for tackling hospital associated infections.
 
Shadow Health Secretary Cathy Jamieson said:

"Patients have an absolute right to be treated in clean and safe conditions. We are offering a comprehensive and effective action plan with an ambitious target to cut the number of C. diff cases by 50 per cent by March 2011

"Professor Hugh Pennington has told us that the proposals he helped draw up for tackling hospital associated infections could save thousands of lives.
 
"The Scottish Government should respect the views expressed by members on all sides of the Scottish Parliament and urgently put it into action."

Scottish Labour’s 15-point Action Plan to stop Hospital-Acquired Infections

written by Professors Hugh Pennington and Brian Toft

1. Introduce a robust monitoring system for the implementation of guidance at a Board and hospital level is required. This should be subject to rigorous checks by inspection teams, independent of government, undertaking unannounced visits and not relying on a system of self-assessment.
2. An HAl Commissioner - to develop best practice and to co-ordinate and bring a sharper focus to the institutional clutter of those agencies responsible for tackling HAls.
3. Crash programme to provide isolation facilities for all CDAD/MRSA patients. This is the provision of en-suite single rooms in sufficient number to end sharing. The Scottish Government needs to outline the timescale and resources for this to be achieved across the NHS
   
4. Crash programme to provide quality hand-washing facilities (specifically temperature-controlled, sensor-operated, flow-regulated taps) appropriately positioned in all wards.
5. Real time detailed analyses at ward level, (with high resolution fingerprinting of the causative microbes) is essential in tracking the spread of infection and for outbreak identification and control.
6. Monthly reporting, on a hospital by hospital basis, must be published and available centrally online for every hospital. Quarterly reporting by HPS of Scotland wide statistics would continue.
7. Budget to ensure that staffing numbers in key posts - control of infection nurse, scientist/microbiologist and cleaning staff posts meet national guidelines. Antimicrobial pharmacists should be deployed in every hospital and a central contingency fund should be established to ensure cover for any staff shortages.
   
8. Urgent need for workforce planning. It is understood that there are currently no medically qualified academic bacteriologists to train future specialists or conduct research.
9. HEAT target to reduce the rate of clostridium difficile by 50% by March 2011.
   
10. Funding for the provision of surplus capacity of storage and washing facilities for soiled bedding and clothes at all hospitals in the event of an outbreak of C.diff.
11. Introduce sterile hygiene system for staff uniforms.
12. Facilities for steam cleaning of beds, curtains etc to be available in every hospital.
13. Budget for future increases in the levels of MRSA screening activity and the need for rapid turn-round times for tests with benefits both to the patients and to rapid infection control.
14. Funding for the Reference Laboratory should be increased to permit all isolates to be fingerprinted, and to develop typing systems which will identify new and potentially more virulent strains of C.diff.
15. A properly resourced reference laboratory should be established for Norovirus gastroenteritis, given its link to CDAD, in line with the MRSA and C.Difficile reference laboratories.