Specific Organisms - MRSA and Clostridium difficile
Specific organisms such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile have a high public profile and the Task Force has focused a lot of its work in these areas. For example, rising concerns about clostridium difficile saw a mandatory surveillance programme introduced in Scotland and a clostridium difficile laboratory was established
Work continues apace with plans to develop national guidelines on taking samples for clostridium difficile testing and the Task Force will oversee a pilot MRSA screening programme in 2008/2009 in three NHS Boards to assess the practical implications of introducing a national programme from 2009/2010. The introduction of screening will help NHS Boards meet their Health Efficiency Access Treatment target to reduce the level of all staphylococcus blood infections, including MRSA by 30% by 2010.
MRSA Screening Programme
The Scottish Government acted on the recommendations in the NHSQIS publication: The Clinical and Cost Effectiveness of Screening for MRSA published in September 2007 and announced that a one year pilot MRSA screening programme would be implemented in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Grampian and NHS Western Isles in 2008/2009. The Boards will share in £7 million of resources in 2008/2009 to test the NHSQIS model, and they will receive the support of the Scottish Government and the expertise of Health Protection Scotland over the lifetime of the programme.
A pilot is the right way forward as it will enable the Scottish Government to make an informed decision on the right shape that the national MRSA screening programme should take. MRSA screening is an ambitious undertaking. It means that Scotland will be leading the way in the UK with a planned, structured and deliverable national £16 million per year screening programme.