Our public and private hospital institutions provide an invaluable service 365 days per year for those with urgent and non-urgent medical needs.

Indeed, hospitals go to great lengths to ensure the quality and safety of the facilities they provide, including, in so far as possible, controlling the spread of infection. By adopting and applying measures to ensure a sterile environment where needed, hospital acquired infections are thankfully rare. However, in some cases, patients suffer infections as a direct result of the care they have provided. If this due to medical negligence, then the person affected may be entitled to seek remedy.

What Causes Hospital Acquired Infections?

There are several organisms which hospitals work extremely hard to screen and control, including:

• Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA): MRSA is carried on the skin and poses a risk when that skin is cut open or punctured. This can lead to wound infections and septicaemia.

• Clostridium Difficile (C. diff, C. difficile): Diff commonly resides in the human gut. There are various strains of C. diff, with some causing more serious illnesses than others.

• Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE): CPE is carried on the skin and in the gut and can (in more vulnerable patients) lead to urine infections, wound infections, pneumonia and septicaemia

Infections may occur in surgical wounds, or the respiratory, genitourinary or gastrointestinal systems, and can be spread through contact with individuals, non-sterilised instruments or medical equipment, unsanitary facilities, airborne organisms from other sick patients, or present within the food or water provided to patients.