Fears grow at Shropshire hospitals after new cases of sickness bug reported
The number of cases of a sickness bug at Shropshire's two main hospitals is becoming a "growing concern".
Four cases of clostridium difficile, known as C.diff, were reported at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford's Princess Royal during September, after a further four were reported in August.
Simon Wright, the new chief executive of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) that runs the two hospitals, said there had been 20 incidents of C.diff so far this year.
The figures mean the trust thinks it is "extremely unlikely" that they will meet the target set by NHS England of no more than 25 cases in 2015/16.
The situation is laid bare in a report due to be presented to members of the trust's board tomorrow.
Last year the trust recorded a drop in C.diff numbers from 31 in 2013/14 to 29 cases in 2014/15. They met their target of not more than 38 cases.
The figures show a dramatic reduction from the peak of 208 cases in 2007/08. In the report, Mr Wright says: "Most cases are caused by antibiotic usage and this is predominantly in line with the antibiotic policy.
"There are some delays in isolation whilst awaiting results however; this is mainly due to a shortage of side rooms across our sites.
"We continue to monitor compliance with guidelines in antibiotic prescribing, raise awareness of the need for rapid isolation of patients with symptoms in statutory training and maintain high levels of compliance with hand hygiene and environmental cleanliness."
