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Minister to make C.diff statement Bug outbreak 'identified quickly'
(1 day later)
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon is to make a statement to parliament on the outbreak of the Clostridium Difficile infection at a Dundee hospital. Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has said she is confident the outbreak of Clostridium difficile at a Dundee hospital was identified quickly.
The bug caused or contributed to the deaths of five elderly patients in Ninewells hospital over three weeks. It emerged on Tuesday that five elderly patients had died after contracting the bug on Ward 31 at Ninewells hospital.
The hospital said routine monitoring picked up the outbreak early and triggered an immediate infection control operation. In a statement to the Scottish Parliament, Ms Sturgeon said the outbreak occurred over three weeks, not the 10 weeks previously thought.
Labour wants to know why details were not made public until this week. An investigation has begun to assess infection control systems in Tayside.
Ms Sturgeon told MSPs the first case of the dangerous 027 strain of c difficile at the hospital might have occurred as far back as the start of August.
However, the bug began to spread two months later and an alert was triggered when three further patients contracted it between 14 and 18 October.
The ward was then closed. The health secretary revealed she has been aware of the situation since 21 October, at which point three more patients, already on the ward, contracted the infection.
Nicola Sturgeon makes a statement to MSPs in parliament
She said another case in September was now known to be of a different strain.
Ms Sturgeon said an investigation was under way, but that the outbreak was identified and responded to quickly.
NHS Tayside have said routine monitoring picked up the outbreak early and triggered an immediate infection control operation.
Despite the claims, the Scottish Labour party has demanded to know why details of the outbreak were not made public until this week.
Latest deaths
The party's health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said there had been a "lack of transparency" regarding the outbreak.
She said: "Patients and their families have a right to know if there's an outbreak.
"Why, when cases were identified on October 14, October 17 and October 18 was someone apparently admitted to the ward on October 19, who then went on to contract C. diff and subsequently died?
"Their family claims that they were not told."
Ms Sturgeon said the case did not tally with information she had received from the health board.
The Conservatives said the latest deaths highlighted the need for urgent progress on the public inquiry into the earlier outbreak at the Vale of Leven hospital in West Dunbartonshire.The Conservatives said the latest deaths highlighted the need for urgent progress on the public inquiry into the earlier outbreak at the Vale of Leven hospital in West Dunbartonshire.
The Liberal Democrats said the remit of the inquiry should now be extended. The Liberal Democrats have called for the remit of that inquiry to be extended.
Opposition parties will question the health secretary following her statement at Holyrood. A total of eight elderly people in ward 31 at Ninewells had the infection.
The Ninewells C.diff outbreak was identified on 19 October and the government was informed two days later.
A total of eight elderly people in ward 31 had the infection.
The five deaths in Ninewells make the case for a wider public inquiry absolutely concrete Ross FinnieLib Dems
Five patients died between 19 October and 6 November, but an earlier case in September was later re-classified as part of the outbreak meaning it spanned 10 weeks.
Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: "Patients and their families have an absolute right to know if there is an outbreak at their local hospital.
"Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has also known about this outbreak for some three weeks now but chose not to inform the public. There is no possible justification for this lack of transparency."
A government spokeswoman dismissed Ms Baillie's comments, describing them as "ill-informed".
She added: "At all times, NHS Tayside kept patients and their relatives fully informed.
"Initial action was, rightly, focused on dealing with the outbreak.
"In this case, the fatalities all took place between 21 October and 6 November and there have been no new cases since 30 October."
Openness and transparency
All C. diff cases are recorded in the bi-monthly HAI (healthcare-associated infection) reporting system and are publicised at health board meetings and on the Scottish Government website, according to the spokeswoman.
"In this case, in the spirit of openness and transparency, NHS Tayside has proactively made the information available sooner," she said.
Nine people died directly from C. diff in a six-month outbreak at the Vale of Leven hospital in West Dunbartonshire last year, and the bug contributed to nine other deaths.
The government has since announced a public inquiry into that outbreak.
However, Lib Dem health spokesman Ross Finnie said the inquiry "shied away" from looking at outbreaks in Orkney and Grampian.
"The five deaths in Ninewells make the case for a wider public inquiry absolutely concrete," he said.
"I will be calling on the health secretary to show some leadership tomorrow by ordering the terms and remit for the public inquiry to be extended across the country."