The number of patients infected with meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile in hospitals in England has fallen, says a parliamentary report published this week. But it warns that other healthcare associated infections are increasing because they are not subject to mandatory monitoring.

The Public Accounts Committee, which is appointed by the House of Commons to examine public expenditure, has been reporting on healthcare acquired infections—which it considers a key indicator of quality and safety of NHS care—since 2000, when it found that “the NHS did not have a grip on the extent and costs of hospital acquired infection.”

Mandatory reporting of MRSA infections was introduced in 2001, when the numbers were among the highest in Europe, and for C difficile in 2004. The latest data show that the number of MRSA bloodstream …