Healthcare associated infections

doi:10.1136/bmj.b3721

Published 28 September 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b3721
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b3721

Editorials

Healthcare associated infections

National bodies and guidelines should be less suggestive andmore directive

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

In Europe about 7% of patients in hospital develop healthcareassociated infections.¹ The associated financial burden of theseinfections for the United Kingdom is estimated to be £1-11bn( ${euro}$ 1.1-12.6bn; $1.6-18bn). ² ³ Current policies aim for, perhapsunrealistically, 100% prevention.

The British Medical Association recently published guidelineson how to tackle healthcare associated infections, and set prioritiesfor action.⁴ The most important changes in the guidelines arethe shift from policies dealing with micro-organisms (especiallymeticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile)to policies aimed at reducing rates of healthcare associatedinfections (such as surgical site infections, ventilator associatedpneumonia, and urinary tract infections) and changing behaviour.

How the suggested interventions are understood and implementedby health professionals is critical in determining whether theywill be successful. Although interventions to improve patients’safety may seem simple (see box) it is non-compliance with theinterventions that is the problem.

The guidelines . . . [Full text of this article]

Andreas Voss, Professor of medical microbiology and infection control

¹ Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

vossandreas@gmail.com