Launch of Bedford Hospital’s Infection Awareness Week Monday 28 th September 2009 Derek Butler MRSA Action UK

Sir Alexander Ogston

Alexander Fleming

Howard Florey

Nightingale Ward

First outbreak at Queen Mary’s Children’s Hospital, Carlshalton in

MRSA was first identified in the USA in 1968 in a Boston Hospital

European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System

The Rt Hon John Reid MP 5 th November 2004 “I expect MRSA bloodstream infection rates to be halved in our hospitals by NHS Acute Trusts will be tasked with achieving a year on year reduction up to and beyond March 2008."

John Reid’s target focused hearts and minds

Recorded Surgical Site Infections 2008 – Health Protection Agency

Monitoring HCAIs in addition to bacteraemias to drive improvement

Working with local Health Protection Units on emerging threats from micro-organisms

Good hand hygiene

Benjamin Franklin “When there is a wrong it is incumbent on those that have the ability to correct that wrong to have placed upon them the responsibility to correct that wrong”

Aneurin Bevan “Resources of medical skill and the apparatus of healing shall be placed at the disposal of the patient, without charge, when he or she needs them; medical treatment and care should be a communal responsibility made available to rich and poor alike in accordance with medical need. No society can legitimately call itself civilized if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means” “In Place of Fear: A Free Health Service”

Aristotle “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle BCE

Florence Nightingale

Great leaders don’t just lead, they bring out the best in everyone else too Juliet at the reception after MRSA Action UK’s annual memorial event – when told she was inspirational by people who had been recently bereaved through losing a loved one to MRSA, she said “it isn’t me, this is the staff at Bedford Hospital”

Janice Stevens, Associate Programme Director, HCAI and Cleanliness Division, Department of Health “Infection prevention is everyone’s responsibility, as is providing clean and safe care to patients. Robust infection prevention practice is easier to instil than management of the problem, and will provide sustainable reductions in infection rates”

Tomorrow’s generation

In memory of those who suffered and are lost to healthcare infections

“When does one’s life become important enough to love, respect, protect and save? This is a powerful question – not a question that is usually asked but, instead, a question that may someday be asked when faced with the tragic loss of a loved one.” Julia Nora Pilas

Thank you for listening, please join us in supporting Jeanine Thomas and her colleagues in the USA and let everyone know that October 2 nd 2009 is the first World MRSA Awareness Day, and the MRSA Survivors Network promotion of MRSA Awareness Month - October