C difficile cases down at Merseyside hospitals

Sep 11 2009 by Liza Williams, Liverpool Daily Post

MERSEYSIDE hospitals are continuing to reduce their rates of the superbug C difficile, according to latest figures.

The results, released by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), show Arrowe Park recorded 80 cases between April and June this year, compared to 144 during the same period in 2008.

There has also been a fall in cases at Aintree Hospital, after a period of growth during the last year, with the Trust recording 81 cases compared to 147 the previous quarter.

The Trust’s annual rate is one of the highest in the country, at 1.21 per 1,000 bed days, because of high levels in previous quarters.

Liverpool Women’s hospital has been C Diff and MRSA free since last year.

However, the Royal and Broadgreen hospitals have seen a slight increase in C Diff cases from 122 during April to June last year, to 125 this year. But the Trust’s MRSA cases have gone down from 12 to eight during the same period.

Last month, it was reported that Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital has been MRSA free for the last 18 months, and figures show Clatterbridge has also recorded zero cases since 2008.

St Helens and Whiston hospitals have seen a decrease in C Diff, from 58 cases, in April to June last year, to 37 this year.

MRSA cases have increased from two to four during the same period, although the Trust had the lowest MRSA rate in the NW for an acute organisation of its type and size, at 0.26 per 10,000 bed days.