A campaign to reduce infections such as MRSA in Leeds hospitals gets underway tomorrow.
Healthcare professionals will be out and about in the cit centre, and in Victoria Gardens there will be a "bug tent" where people will be given tips on how to stay infection-free.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has seen a drop in the number of MRSA and C.Difficile infections on its wards over the last five years. Rates of C.Difficile infection within the Trust have fallen by 79 per cent over the last five years and MRSA cases are down 92 per cent.
“The public have an important part to play in reducing hospital infections. Many people are unaware of the germs that could be on their hands.
"MRSA and C.Difficile are preventable infections. We’re working with the public to highlight the importance of proper hand washing and reminding them that they must wait 48 hours after having sickness and diarrhoea before visiting someone in hospital.
“We hope this campaign encourages the public to help us continue saving lives.”
– Clare Ashby, Infection Prevention and Control Matron at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust
Seventeen NHS hospitals - including three in the Calendar region - have dangerously low staffing levels, according to rulings by the official safety watchdog.
The hospitals - among them Scarborough, and Stamford and Rutland and the Pilgrim Hospitals, both in Lincolnshire - were issued with warnings by the Care Quality Commission after its latest inspections.
Each was told it did not have enough staff "to keep people safe and meet their health and welfare needs" .
The English hospitals were named at a time of growing concern over the safety and dignity of NHS patients. Last night Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, said there was "no excuse" for hospitals not to provide adequate staff and he expected "swift action" to be taken by those named as failing.
The inspections were carried out by staff from the CQC at each hospital, although not every ward was visited. Each hospital was told it had failed to employ enough staff "to keep people safe".
The 17 hospitals were named on a list of 26 "health providers" found to have inadequate staffing levels. The data has never before been made public.
Stephen Eames, interim chief executive of the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “I would like to apologise unreservedly to the patients and families of those whose care hasclearly not been good enough."
“We are taking this issue very seriously and we put an action plan in place as soon as we became aware of the concerns to ensure care is safe and to a high standard. I can report those responsible for the poor standards of care have been held to account and we have put new leadership in place."
FLASH: Watchdog issues warning to Yorkshire hosptials
The Care Quality Commission has issued a formal warning to Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust saying it must do more to improve standards of care or face further action. The warning follows an inspection at the trust’s Dewsbury and District Hospital, Halifax Road in Dewsbury earlier this month.
Inspectors visited to check on what progress had been made in relation to concerns about the hospital’s maternity services at the time of an earlier inspection, and to follow up on information received in relation to care of older people and discharge planning.
A senior nurse has denied that an elderly patient with dementia had been left to starve on a hospital ward in Sheffield. It's been claimed that Joan Wood had not eaten for ten days before an operation.
The eighty three year old was said to be malnourished - which could have hindered her ability to fight infection. The coroner at her inquest said better nutrition would have helped. Chris Kiddey reports.
Plans to cut working hours at cash-strapped hospitals
The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust is to ask its workforce to reduce their hours and take a week's unpaid leave to tackle a financial crisis. The trust that runs Pontefract, Pinderfields and Dewsbury hospital wants to save 24 million pounds. Yunus Mulla reports.
Staff at the crisis-hit Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS trust are to be offered unpaid leave and a cut in hours in a bid to slash budgets by up to twenty four million pounds. Yunus Mulla has the latest from Pinderfields hospital in Wakefield.
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust have raised their car parking prices 112%, from 67p an hour to £1.42. More than one in four hospital trusts across the country have increased car parking charges for patients and visitors.
