Healthcare associated infection - new report

Health care infection rates have hit the media in the last couple of weeks and now The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has released a report called Reducing harm to patients through healthcare associated infection : the role of surveillance. This report summarises the state of healthcare associated infections (HAI) in Australia and makes recommendations for reducing HAI through surveillance and prevention. The Commission reports that hospital infection rates could be halved if health workers simply washed their hands more regularly and more thoroughly. It has found that around 200,000 people each year are contracting infections within the healthcare system and two million extra bed days are occupied by patients because they have picked up healthcare associated infection. The total cost is about $20 million per year in this country.