Madam, - Dr Ruairi Hanley's letter of February 12th really hit the nail on the head: tackling MRSA and hospital-based infections requires consistent national guidelines and a multi-faceted approach.
An advertising campaign aimed at patients seems inappropriate at this point, given the seriousness of the problem and the lack of coherence in our national approach to it.
This week I published a research paper on MRSA. People are dying in hospitals because of their exposure to these life-threatening illnesses. There is a two-fold increase in mortality attributable to MRSA. In other words MRSA doubles the risk of death from any invasive procedure. In addition, bed occupancy - such a critical issue in our current health crisis - is greatly affected by MRSA. The average post-operative stay for someone without MRSA is five days, but for those with MRSA it is 23 days (Dr Robert Cunney, EARSS, 2005). Our incidence of MRSA, at 14.6 per 100,000 patient days, is one of the highest in Europe.
We must learn from our European colleagues the most effective ways of minimising MRSA. The policy in the Netherlands of "search and destroy" has placed a great emphasis on identifying the infection and then isolating it quickly. There are currently no screening procedures in Irish hospitals and there have been cases of patients with MRSA being transferred to nursing homes, putting the inhabitants of the homes at risk of infection.
It is imperative that the Minister and the HSE prioritise this issue and implement a co-ordinated and effective national strategy.
The current expensive advertising strategy is utterly ineffective in light of the inability of the HSE and the Minister for Health to institute effective guidelines and practices in hospitals. - Yours, etc,
Senator FRANCES FITZGERALD, Fine Gael Seanad Spokes-woman on Health, Leinster House, Dublin 2.