Superbugs kill nine in a week due to lack of hygiene

Londo: More than nine patients a week are dying from hospital superbugs in London, the Evening Standard revealed on Monday.

Exclusive figures show for the first time the number of people dying from infections preventable by good hygiene. At least 489 patients died in the capital as a direct result of the stomach bug "Clostridium difficile" (C.diff) or "Mrsa infection" in 2006.

The bugs were mentioned on a further 456 death certificates, according to figures obtained from the Office for National Statistics.

But a Standard investigation reveals widespread ignorance in hospitals about superbug deaths. Many trusts have no idea how many people with Mrsa or C.diff have died in their care and are failing to monitor the problem.

Only 11 London hospital trusts were able to produce any data on deaths linked to hospital infections. Of these, just six could produce full figures for the last two years.

Missing data

Among trusts that could not produce figures were Barts and The London and Guy's and St Thomas'.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge Nhs Trust produced figures showing at least 101 patients died with or from superbugs between 2006 and last year. Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said it was "astonishing" hospitals were not closely monitoring the figures. He said: "How can trusts expect to know the effectiveness of measures they put in place to tackle these deadly diseases without collecting this data?"

Healthcare charity The Patients' Association said the death rates should be published alongside infection figures, which are released every quarter.

Latest nationwide figures show 6,480 people died in 2006 with C.diff - a rise of 72 per cent on the year before.