Tories unveil plan to beat Superbug

Last updated at 09:48 26 April 2005


The Conservatives have unveiled a £10 million plan to fight the MRSA hospital superbug.

Tory leader Michael Howard said the money would enable all NHS hospital trusts to implement state-of-the-art technology to identify MRSA by nasal swab testing "in a matter of hours as opposed to days".

It is part of a 10-point Tory action plan to clean up hospitals.

Speaking at the Conservatives' morning media conference in London, Mr Howard said: "In the fourth richest country in the world, more people die from infections they've picked up in hospitals than they do on our roads. That's 5,000 deaths each year: each death a tragedy for a family."

Power to professionals

He said the 10-point action plan had at its heart "a commitment to give power to doctors, nurses and local professionals. They should run our hospitals, not bureaucrats sitting in Whitehall".

The Tory leader went on: "Doctors and nurses know best how to care for the sick and to cure the ill.

A Conservative government will trust them to exercise their judgment - not second-guess them at every turn with targets and initiatives.

"We'll bring back matrons - giving them the power to shut hospital wards and operating theatres that are infected with the superbug if they think that is what's needed.

"We'll expect hospital trusts to commit to high standards because we believe you cannot manage a problem without having clear standards."

Mr Howard said the Conservatives would publish all MRSA infection-rate data by clinical departments, so that people were aware of the dangers they faced and the choices they could make.

Most watched News videos