MRSA: Tories pledging cleaner hospitals

Conservative leader Michael Howard has promised to introduce a multi-million pound testing system to help rid the NHS of the MRSA superbug.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Howard and shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said the system has proven successful in countries such as Canada, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Howard, who lost his mother-in-law to a hospital acquired infection, has made combating MRSA one of his five key election pledges.

The Tory leader pledged the £10m needed to introduce the nasal swabs system across the country.

"We are committed to urgent, practical action to clean up our hospitals," he said.

"Because we believe in taking fast and practical action, we will make £10 million available to enable all NHS hospital trusts to deploy nasal swab testing technology.

"That will mean MRSA can be identified in a matter of hours rather than days."

MRSA failures

The Conservative chief linked the issue of trust in Tony Blair with Labour's "failure" to tackle the number of MRSA infections in British hospitals.

And Lansley said that patients currently have to wait days to learn whether they have been struck by the superbug.

He accused the government of not giving MRSA "anything approaching the action and the urgency it requires".

And the shadow health secretary said that tests being introduced by one NHS trust take just a matter of hours, and that the state-of-the-art system would be introduced nationwide under the Conservatives.

Ward closures

Lansley also challenged the prime minister to give local infection teams the power to shut wards where the bug is breeding and said pressure to meet Labour targets currently prevents that happening.

Under a Tory government matrons would be given the power to close infected wards Howard insisted.

"Doctors and nurses know best how to care for the sick and to cure the ill," he added.

"A Conservative government will trust them to exercise their judgment - not second -guess them at every turn with targets and initiatives.

"We'll bring back matrons - giving them the power to shut hospital wards and operating theatres that are infected with the superbug if they think that is what's needed.

"We'll expect hospital trusts to commit to high standards because we believe you cannot manage a problem without having clear standards."