Hospital Acquired Infections

Hospital infections

Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are common in the United Kingdom. Infections like MRSA and Clostridium Dificile are known as hospital acquired infections because they occur mostly in healthcare environments. This is because when we have an open wound such as after surgery, or when our immune systems are weakened we are more susceptible to infection.

If you think you may have a case for compensation contact us and seek specialist advice from one of our clinical negligence lawyers. You can either fill out our online enquiry form, request a call back or call us direct on 0800 915 4650.

MRSA - Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. There are many strains of Staphylococcus Aureus, a bacteria that normally lives on our skin and doesn't cause us any health problems. Problems occur when it gets into the bloodstream through a cut or broken skin, cannulae, urinary catheters, 'stents' or 'pegs' and bedsores. Some of these bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics such as Methicillin. Infections like MRSA are known as hospital acquired infections because they occur mostly in healthcare environments. This is because when we have an open wound such as after surgery, or when our immune systems are weakened we are more susceptible to infection. MRSA is particularly feared in hospitals as it can cause an extremely wide range of serious disease such as pneumonia, septicaemia, bone infections and toxic-shock.

Clostridium Dificile is the major cause of hospital-acquired diarrhoea in many countries where it can cause life-threatening illness especially in elderly and patients with severe underlying disease. Clostridium difficile was responsible for a recently reported fatal outbreak at Stoke Mandeville hospital among elderly patients. Clostridium difficile is commonly found in the large intestine and infections usually occur following long-term antibiotic therapy that kills other bacterial competitors allowing Clostridium difficile to take over. It produces two major toxins that inflame the colon causing diarrhoea.

What we look for

There are two key areas that we look at when we are dealing with a hospital acquired infection claim:

Acquisition

We have to show that there was a failure to follow appropriate infection control procedures and/or a failure to have an adequate infection control procedure. For example the patient may not have been isolated, there may be poor hand washing between patients, inappropriate hygiene, lack of pre operative screening, admission for non-emergency procedure when an infection such as MRSA is known to be an issue in the theatre or ward.

Treatment of infections

We look to see whether inappropriate treatment has occurred such as not swabbing soon enough, inappropriate wound care, inappropriate antibiotics, failure to monitor the stronger antibiotics which can cause toxicity leading to renal failure and damage to the vestibular system (balance and hearing), inappropriate care of pin sites following a fracture as metal work allows introduction of the infection to the bone/joint which makes the infection deeper and is harder to treat.