BMJ  2006;332:238 (28 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7535.238

Letter

Management of Clostridium difficile in NHS trusts

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Editor—A recent report and press statement by the Healthcare Commission and Health Protection Agency (HPA) say that a third of NHS trusts are not adhering to government guidance on the prevention and control of Clostridium difficile infection.^{1 2} In parallel, the chief medical and the chief nursing officers have written a joint letter to trusts' chief executives.³ The letter says that guidance published in 1994 by the Department of Health and the then Public Health Laboratory Service (now the HPA) is "current."⁴ I telephoned the publication department of the Department of Health for a copy, only to be told it does not have anything that goes back "that far." A similar request to the HPA also drew a blank.

The report advises trusts have antibiotic prescribing guidelines to reduce the risk of C difficile infection.¹ However, the supporting reference given was a report made to, rather than guidance from, the Department . . . [Full text of this article]

Bradford Royal Infirmary, Bradford BD9 6RJ david.green@bradfordhospitals.nhs.uk

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