Infection rates
Minimising the risk to patients by preventing hospital-acquired infections is a top priority at Chelsea and Westminster.
Infection prevention is a fundamental part of the everyday care of patients and every member of staff in the hospital is committed to upholding the highest possible standards of infection control.
The independent regulator the Care Quality Commission sets targets to reduce the number of cases of the 2 main infections—MRSA and Clostridium difficile.
Our performance against these targets will be updated on this website on a monthly basis.
Current performance—number of MRSA and Clostridium difficile cases 2011/12
| Infection | Target 2011/12 | Mar 2012 | 2011/12 performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| MRSA | 3 cases or less | 0 | 1 |
| Clostridium difficile | 31 cases or less | 2 | 17 |
Previous performance—number of MRSA and Clostridium difficile cases 2008/09-2010/11
| Infection | 2010/11 | 2009/10 | 2008/09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MRSA | 6 | 10 | 5 |
| Clostridium difficile | 73* | 32 | 41 |
* The Trust has introduced a new testing regime which is far more sensitive than the previous testing regime. As a result the number of Clostridium difficile cases in 2010/11 was 73, compared with 32 in 2009/10. The Trust's infection control policies and procedures did not change during this period and therefore we are confident it is the increased sensitivity of the test, and not the infection control practices of our staff, that cased the increase.
