The Tories have labelled funding for the NHS deep clean programme a “shambles.” According to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, just a quarter of the money allocated by the by the Government for deep cleaning has managed to reach the people who need it.
Statistics provided by the strategic health authorities are only able to confirm that £15.6 million – just 27% of the pledged £57.5 million - has been handed over to the relevant local NHS trusts in order to pay for the deep cleaning.
The Tories have also said that many NHS trusts have had to find around £22.8 million from their own funds in order to pay for the deep cleaning programme. In addition to this, the programme is thought to be over budget by at least £10.6 million, which is around 18%.
The deep cleaning programme was announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown last September when he asked for every NHS hospital to be thoroughly cleaned to industrial standards in a bid to tackle hospital superbugs such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile. Although the Health Secretary Alan Johnson said that he expected all of England’s 1,500 hospitals to be deep cleaned by the end of March, there has been no central monitoring of the programme to check how many hospitals managed to meet the deadline.
Health Minister Ben Bradshaw defended the deep cleaning programme, and said that the Tories were wrong to criticise it. He said: "Once again the Tories have got their numbers wrong. Over £62 million from trust surpluses has been spent on a successful round of hospital deep cleans. Deep cleans are immensely popular with patients, the public and hospital staff."
The government’s national deep cleaning strategy has been criticised by many as a publicity stunt. Critics say that it has been enforced to give the public the impression that the NHS is in control of superbugs despite high levels of infection and deaths. Mr Bradshaw was keen to dismiss the idea that the deep cleans were a PR exercise. He said: "Far from being a 'gimmick', they are one of a series of initiatives we have delivered to make our hospitals cleaner and safer.” However, The Lancet, a specialist medical journal, said that the Prime Minister was merely “pandering to populism” by implementing this strategy. It added that the only proven way to avoid potentially dangerous superbug infections was to ensure doctors, nurses and visitors washed their hands properly.
MRSA, which is resistant to antibiotics, is officially responsible for 7,000 to 8,000 infections per year, while the number of Clostridium Difficile (C diff) bacteria cases is said to be around 55,600 annually. However, a number of medical experts believe the actual number of superbug infections stands at around 300,000 a year.
In another bid to battle the superbugs, hospitals will begin MRSA screening of all patients checking in for non-emergency procedures in April, and for emergency admissions at some point in the next three years.
Source:
Press Association
The Times
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