Huge increase in hospital-acquired infections as 1,000 now being recorded weekly

New figures released by NHS Digital show that there has been an eight-fold jump in the last ten years in new cases of MRSA and other hospital-acquired bugs, and the number has risen by 20 per cent in the last year alone from just over 40,000 to nearly 50,000 in 2017.

These figures come at a time that experts are warning of it becoming more and more difficult to beat routine infections due to their resistance to current antibiotic treatment and that people are starting to die from common infections.

Public Health England recently released a report warning that three million standard medical procedures could become lethal if infections become untreatable.

One particularly dangerous common hospital-acquired infection, MRSA, which can be harmful for people who are already weak, has now become resistant to standard antibiotics.

Derek Butler, chairman of MRSA Action UK said “Sooner or later we won’t be able to treat anything, these infections shouldn’t be happening.

“The message I’d give ministers is “If you think this battle is over, it’s not.” We have a bigger threat now than before because the bacteria have become more resistant to antibiotics.”

Chief Medical Officer for England Dame Sally Davies, said “Without swift action to reduce infections, we are at risk of putting medicine back in the dark ages.

“Common procedures we take for granted could become too dangerous to perform and treatable conditions become life-threatening.

“The UK has made great efforts in recent years to reduce prescribing rates of antibiotics.

“However, there continues to be a real need to preserve the drugs we have so that they remain effective for those who really need them and prevent infections emerging in the first place.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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