Killer hospital bugs spread

Patients in major hospitals are routinely being exposed to the deadly superbug MRSA despite a massive campaign to clean up wards.

An Evening Standard investigation has revealed how widespread the hospital-acquired infection - which kills up to 5,000 patients a year - has become.

Of nine hospitals tested this week, all had MRSA in public areas such as corridors, lavatories and lifts. At Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, the infection was found on a padded trolley decorated with teddy bears.

Another hospital had a foul-smelling open clinical waste bin, left five metres from a gynaecology ward, which was infested with the bug.

Microbiologist Chris Malyszewicz, who carried out the tests, said: "Cleanliness in many hospitals was visibly lacking and in some cases, horrifying. I am disturbed by how much MRSA was identified. Going there, even as a visitor, is at present potentially health-damaging, if not fatal."

Today critics blamed the privatisation of cleaning services and accused contractors of "sloppy work".

Improving hospital cleanliness is one of the Government's top priorities, and managers are expected to meet strict targets.

Health chiefs have set aside £70 million to tackle the problem, with better waste disposal and special MRSA control staff in place to prevent an outbreak this autumn.

But our investigation suggests this is having little, if any, impact.

Mr Malyszewicz, a director of Chemsol labs, took a series of swabs in eight London hospitals. Of 34 swabs, 22 tested positive. Each hospital had at least one case of MRSA. The worst was St Mary's in Paddington where Princes William and Harry were born, and which was named Hospital of the Year for 2003 by the Sunday Times.

Seven of the eight samples taken, including some from door and lift handles, contained MRSA, plus high levels of bacteria and fungi that cause stomach bugs. Even within the sparkling Chelsea and Westminster glass atrium, MRSA lurked on doors to the maternity unit. Five of six surfaces tested had traces of the bug.

Third worst was University College's ageing Middlesex Hospital in Goodge Street, which has the UK's worst record for MRSA deaths. Five samples contained the bug.

London hospitals have the poorest record for MRSA-related patient deaths, with at least 1,000 in the past year. But our investigation reveals that even cleaner-looking hospitals are failing to keep the bug out.

Only one, St Thomas', provided dispensers of alcohol gel, which kills bacteria. But though signs asked visitors to use it, in half an hour's wait nobody (including doctors, nurses and cleaners) did so.

The investigation also exposes the worrying trend of clinical waste bins containing syringes and used dressings being left in corridors. Five were seen in public areas at the Middlesex Hospital. At the Chelsea and Westminster, a clinical waste skip five metres from doors leading to a gynaecology ward was found to have the worst infestation of any sample.

Up to 30 per cent of people carry MRSA and it is rarely life-threatening. But the antibiotic-resistant bug can be devastating for children, the sick and the elderly. It invades the body via cuts or stitches. Although the bug is impossible to eradicate,

hospitals are under growing pressure after a trebling of MRSA-related deaths over the past decade. Its growth is blamed by many on poor cleaning by private firms.

Mr Malyszewicz said: "Since the Sixties, nurses have relinquished all responsibility for cleaning. The result is a culture of sloppy work by people who often cannot communicate in English."

A spokesman for Great Ormond Street said: "Because we have a particularly sick and vulnerable group of patients we work extremely hard to keep infection down. We are not at all complacent." A St Mary's spokeswoman said the hospital had "a dedicated infection control team" to educate staff, while Guy's and St Thomas' added: "Patients and visitors are encouraged to challenge staff if they feel our standards are not good enough."

The Chelsea and Westminster Hospital said its Hand Hygiene Awareness Week was held up as an example of innovative practice.

A University College Hospitals spokesman said: "UCL is in the highest band for the cleanliness of its public and clinical areas."