In 2000, a predecessor Public Accounts Committee said the NHS did not have a grip on the extent and costs of hospital infections and needed robust data.
In 2005, the most recent committee found progress in improving infection prevention and control had been patchy.
Today’s report relates to England. There has been a fall in the number of death certificates mentioning MRSA or C diff as a contributory factor in why someone died, figures show.
The number of death certificates mentioning C diff fell by 29% between 2007 and 2008, to 5,931.
Meanwhile, the number mentioning MRSA fell by 23% over the same period, to 1,230.
The number of people infected with MRSA and C diff also fell between April and June 2009.
There were 509 cases of MRSA in England, a 39% drop on the same quarter in 2008.
There were also 6,855 cases of C diff in people aged two and over – a 37% drop on the same quarter in 2008.
John Black, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: “This report on hospital acquired infections rightly highlights how we don’t have a national picture on incidences such as surgical site infections let alone any strategy to start to assess the risk to patients and begin the task of dealing with them.”
