Every day in Ireland hundreds of people endure extended illness, pain and suffering caused by hospital acquired infection. MRSA is short for Methicillin - Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus and it is a serious hospital infection.
If you have suffered illness as a result of contracting MRSA after a surgical procedure or during your stay in a hospital in Ireland you may wish to contact us with further details. A person who suffers as a result of contracting the MRSA bug while in hospital may be in a position to bring personal injury proceedings for breach of the hospital / health care provider’s duty of care to take reasonable steps not to injure patients in their care or
expose them to the MRSA Superbug. Certain guidelines for control of MRSA have been published in Ireland by the Department of Health since 1995.
In many instances hospitals and health care Institutions have failed to observe the following guidelines:
Overcrowding and poor hygiene standards are highlighted as major factors.
Every hospital and health care Institution must take steps to prevent patient overcrowding and ensure adequate space between adjacent beds i.e. 2.4metres between the centres of patient's beds is recommended.
Hand hygiene before and after each patient contact is essential.
The physical environment of any health care institution must be clean and the Chief Executive Officer must take overall responsibility for matters such as this.
Overall hospital hygiene needs to be of the highest standard.
Early detection of MRSA through surveillance is fundamental to prevent spreading.
A suitable and sufficient risk assessment should be carried out.
An infection control policy should be actively promoted and put into practice.
Patients due to undergo any operative procedure or patients in a clinicalarea where there is a high risk of colonisation e.g. an intensive care unit, should undergo a nasal and general body decolonisation.
There must be good communications between hospitals discharging patients with MRSA and carers or family members, general practitioners and community units to minimise spread.
All laboratories should ensure that MRSA isolates that are non susceptible 2 of 2 17.02.2009 02:10 or are fully resistant to vancomycin are detected rapidly and that this is communicated to infection control teams and the relevant authorities. MRSA control measures should be incorporated in to an institution-wide strategy for the control and prevention of infection.
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