NHS in hospital superbug pledge

NHS chiefs pledged to end avoidable hospital-acquired infections by 2018

A pledge to end avoidable hospital-acquired infections by 2018 has come from South East health chiefs.

The health authority for Kent, Surrey and Sussex, NHS South East Coast, launched its 10-year vision on Monday.

Targets state that by 2011, there will be no avoidable cases of hospital-acquired MRSA, and fewer than 2,000 cases of clostridium difficile.

NHS chief Candy Morris said the eight pledges in Healthier People, Excellent Care were "bold and ambitious".

Clinical lead for the project, Ed Palfrey, said the challenge was to "ensure the patient is at the heart of all the work we do".

The medical director at Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Surrey, said: "I know at first hand that patients often feel their voice is not heard."

Citizens jury

Other pledges include treating all strokes, heart attacks and major injuries in specialist centres by 2010.

People will be able to have medical tests on their local high street, or at home, to help diagnose and manage illness.

The vision vows to "turn the tide on rising numbers of obese people".

Promises include more special programmes to help people cope better with long-term conditions such as diabetes.

Most dying people will be able to die where they prefer - at home, in a hospital or hospice.

And the vision sets out life expectancy targets and plans for all patients to hold their own medical records.

The 10-year vision follows national consultation in which a "citizens' jury" met in Kent to hold a video-linked discussion with health minister Lord Darzi.

Forty patients, 40 members of the public, and 40 health workers from across Kent, Surrey and Sussex made hospital cleanliness a top priority.

A further three-month consultation on Healthier People, Excellent Care will now get under way, with results due in the autumn.

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