Conservatives trumpet matron as MRSA solution
Matrons would be put in charge of hospital cleanliness as part of a new £52 million Conservative initiative to help combat MRSA.
Conservative leader Michael Howard revealed that under a Conservative government the extra money would be available to hospitals that signed up to a ten point best practice plan that included appointing a matron at board level, who would be responsible for infection prevention and control.
To qualify for the funding, hospitals would also have to implement clear lines of accountability on cleanliness, employ a trust-wide dress code, uniform changing areas, and ensure all wards have access to 24/7 cleaning.
Speaking at St George’s hospital in Tooting, Mr Howard blamed Labour’s “obsession with targets” for creating “a culture in which the super bug thrives.”
The Conservative leader’s mother-in-law died from an infection she picked up in hospital in 2002. Mr Howard said: “For me cleaning up our hospitals isn’t politics. It’s personal.”
Conservatives would also require hospitals to publish their infection levels so that patients know which hospitals are the cleanest, and give matrons the power to close wards and operating theatres they know are infected with the super bug.
But their plans have been criticised by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Health Secretary John Reid said MRSA rates had halved since 2001 in the hospital that Mr Howard visited.
He added: “The Tories failed to tackle MRSA while in office. The Tories only idea for tackling MRSA, allowing nurses to shut wards, has been slammed by nurses themselves. You cannot tackle the superbug with a soundbite.”
Dr Reid maintained that the Conservatives were flagging up MRSA as an issue because they wanted to run down the NHS. “It is because they want to run down the NHS’ reputation by highlighting every shortcoming, diminishing every achievement, branding staff as ‘Bureaucrats’ and smearing any success as ‘fiddling’,” he said.
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Paul Burstow pointed out that the Conservatives “failed to bring back matron during the 18 years they were in power.”
He added: ” The Tories are right to highlight the serious problem of MRSA in the National Health Service, but they will pay for their plans with their so-called savings, meaning cuts in frontline services.
