London hospital first in UK to pilot RCN anti-MRSA measures
20 July 2005
Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust is the first in the UK to pilot the Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) MRSA Wipe it Out campaign. RCN General Secretary Beverly Malone will visit the hospital to launch the initiative on Wednesday 20 July 2005.
Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust is the first in the UK to pilot the Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) MRSA Wipe it Out campaign. RCN General Secretary Beverly Malone will visit the hospital to launch the initiative on Wednesday 20 July 2005.
The Trust is working with the RCN to promote the guidelines in the RCN’s MRSA Life Saving Pack. They will be using the information leaflets, posters and booklets as part of their programme to inform staff, patients and visitors about MRSA and Health Care Associated Infections (HCAIs), and how they can help to tackle them.
Dr Beverly Malone, General Secretary of the RCN, said: “We are delighted that the Trust have signed up to the RCN’s Wipe it Out Campaign, promoting common sense steps to tackle MRSA. Importantly, the steps emphasise the part that everyone from nurses to patients and visitors can play in fighting infection, so that in partnership we can tackle this together.”
Director of Nursing at Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust, Andrew MacCallum, said: “The Trust is the first pilot site for the RCNs wipe it out campaign. I am sure this campaign will help us build on the work we are already doing at Chelsea and Westminster to combat hospital acquired infection and to strengthen public confidence in the NHS. The literature and learning material for staff and patients are excellent; easy to read and accessible. The college has done an outstanding job.”
The Wipe it Out campaign was launched in April this year at the RCN Congress in Harrogate in partnership with Nursing Standard, the Infection Control Nurses' Association (ICNA) and Kimberly-Clark. The campaign aims to lobby for a range of practical improvements to help reduce rates of healthcare associated infections. The RCN is challenging the government to publicly support ten minimum standards for infection prevention and control.