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MRSA CUT: Housekeeping manager Pat Taylor, front left, with matron Debbie Bennion with colleagues at DCH

DORSET County Hospital has been rated one of the best in the country for cutting MRSA cases.

The hospital was marked one of the top 20 trusts in England for low rates of the bloodstream infection.

Annual figures from the Health Protection Agency show there were nine cases of MRSA in the last year.

This compares to 15 during the previous year.

The figures also show there was just one recorded case of MRSA between January and March this year, compared to three in the previous quarter.

Alison Tong, director of nursing and infection prevention and control, said: "We are really pleased with the results this year. We have seen a significant improvement but we know we have more we want to do.

"Last year we improved our infection control team and brought in new skills.

"One of the most important measures is improving hand hygiene."

Mrs Tong added: "We know this is a really, really important issue and we are not taking our eye off the ball at all. This is still nine too many cases, but the picture is a whole lot better.

"Our infection rates list low in comparison to the national picture."

The figures show a 30 per cent decrease in MRSA cases across the country between 2006/7 and 2007/8.

Dr Georgia Duckworth, of the Health Protection Agency, said: "The substantial drop we have seen in MRSA bloodstream infections over the past year is impressive and a credit to the hard work of our colleagues in the NHS."

The Health Protection Agency also recorded a drop in the number of people contracting C. difficile at Dorset County Hospital. In 2007 there were 284 reported cases of C. difficile in patients over 65 years old. In 2006 the same figure was 317.

10:48am Saturday 19th July 2008

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