HOSPITAL workers are struggling to win the war against superbugs because of sporadic and uncoordinated Government initiatives and a "political agenda", the leader of Scotland's nurses warned last night.
Theresa Fyffe, director of the Royal College of Nursing in Scotland, said numerous action plans against MRSA, C.diff and other potential killers over the past few years had left nurses unsure which rules to follow. Politicisation of the issue risked
creating anxiety and pressure on the wards, she added.
Fyffe said the Government needed to put an expert in overall charge of its superbug strategy and increase the number of staff tackling the problem by up to 50% in some areas.
Her comments are likely to embarrass the Scottish Government, which has made a number of high-profile pledges to tackle hospital acquired infections (HAIs), backed by £54m of extra funding. Fyffe's criticisms were echoed last night by experts, patients' groups and opposition politicians.
Cases of C.diff have soared in Scotland and the bug was linked to 600 deaths last year. Deaths linked to MRSA more than tripled in a decade to 230 last year.
The rise of the deadly bugs has sparked four major national action plans and dozens of new rules and regulations.
But Fyffe, whose organisation is represented on the Government's HAI Taskforce, said there were now so many new policies that staff did not know what to expect next.
She said: "I want to be clear there's a coordinated approach, not a sporadic approach where staff don't know what's coming at them next week.
"We need to check that everything we are doing is working together. When you are at the centre of it, as our nurses are, it's not always easy to understand where all these actions are coming from.
"There's a risk of duplication. Staff need to be sure that it is done in a coordinated way. Some nurses are not so sure it feels coordinated. We need to make sure every effort does deliver and we are all going in the right direction."
So far there have been four major action plans on superbugs, including three Delivery Plans from the HAI Taskforce and a National Action Plan 2008. In addition there have been a number of further action plans on subjects including dress codes, drug prescribing, staff screening, surveillance, handwashing and alcohol handrubs, introducing dozens of new rules and regulations.
Fyffe added: "There's a momentum on it, it's a very political agenda, and that can create a level of anxiety."
Fyffe called on the Scottish Government to fund more staff such as consultant nurses and surveillance experts and to improve hospital facilities such as old sinks to reduce infection rates.
Fyffe's comments were backed last night by leading microbiologist Professor Hugh Pennington. He said: "We are making progress and everything is in the right direction, but we could do it faster and better.
"There is a need for someone to stand over the whole thing. There is a need for a crash programme in the provision of isolation facilities and the staff to run them."
Margaret Watt, chairwoman of the Scotland Patients' Association, said: "We support Fyffe in everything she says. We need more staff and better equipment in hospitals to deal with infections."
Fyffe will raise her concerns at a fringe meeting at the Labour Party Conference in Dundee on Friday, hosted by MSP Jackie Baillie.
Baillie said yesterday: "Part of the problem Nicola Sturgeon has when she approaches hospital infections is she has clearly lost an argument about funding round the Cabinet table, and to some extent that ties her hands."
But Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon last night defended her policies. She said: "Nobody should doubt this Government's commitment to tackling HAIs.
"We have acted swiftly, increasing spending by 260% and putting in place a comprehensive programme which the latest figures show is now beginning to reap rewards.
"This is vital work and it's crucial that we continue to make progress in this area."
Quarter of water coolers contaminatedIT IS the conversation you do not want to have around the water cooler. One in four of the drink-dispensing machines that have become a workplace staple are contaminated by potentially harmful levels of bacteria.
Consumer Focus Scotland (CFS) says poorly maintained water coolers may be putting the health of thousands of Scots at risk and causing vomiting and diarrhoea.
The country's leading consumer watchdog is now calling for a review of the law covering water coolers after 26% of those tested by environmental health officers failed to meet one or more safety and hygiene standards.
The water samples, from both plumbed-in coolers and drinking fountains as well as bottle-fed dispensers, were taken in schools, care homes and leisure centres as well as workplaces across Edinburgh, the Lothians and Borders.
While all passed chemical analysis, nine out of 52 samples from plumbed-in coolers and 14 out of 35 from bottle-supplied coolers, failed because of bacterial contamination.
The types of bacteria found suggest that contamination has come from poor hygiene practice by users, perhaps by someone drinking directly from the tap or where a water bottle with residues of saliva at the neck has touched the tap while being refilled. But CFS says more regular cleaning and maintenance should remove such hazards.
Mary Lawton, food policy specialist at CFS, said the findings were worrying: "We don't want people to stop drinking water and we don't want organisations to remove water dispensers, as they provide a valuable service.
"But the types of bacteria found have the potential to lead to illness, particularly for vulnerable groups. As the failures included a small proportion from water coolers in schools and care homes, there is cause for concern."
The British Water Cooler Association says the UK now has around 720,000 of the dispensers, the largest number of any country in western Europe.
