NHS Infection Concerns

18/01/10

This continues to be a controversial area in the media and according to a poll conducted in 2009, 29% of patients say the risk of infection and hospital cleanliness is their biggest worry about treatment on the NHS, every year over 300,000 patients in England become infected whilst in hospital at a cost to the NHS of more than £1bn a year.

One in ten patients acquires a Hospital Acquired Infection whilst receiving treatment on the NHS and those who contract an infection stay in hospital nearly three times longer than other patients.

UK private hospitals experience only a handful of HAI cases each year, none of which are life threatening, this is largely due to the lower bed occupancy, nursing staff being under less pressure and patients having access to private rooms with en-suite bathrooms. Private hospitals also have a much higher staff to patient ratio which enables them to have a much more thorough and effective decontamination program.