Royal Surrey has Lowest C. difficile Rate in the County

The Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford had the lowest rates of C. difficile in the county, with only 31 cases for the July to September quarter reported in the Health Protection Agency statistics released today.   The Royal Surrey has had consistently low infection results since the beginning of 2008, with rates falling significantly time after time.  The hospital has had the lowest C. difficile infection rate in the county for the last three quarters.

Dr Christopher Tibbs, Medical Director and Director of Infection Prevention and Control said:

"This is a fantastic result for the Royal Surrey and shows that our infection control procedures are having a very positive effect.  We have all worked very hard over the last few years to drive down our rates of infection and I want to thank our staff, patients and visitors for all their support.  Infection prevention and control remains a top priority for the hospital and we are committed to making continual improvements."

The Royal Surrey has also made significant progress in the battle against MRSA bloodstream infections.  The national target for yearly cases (April to March) is 15 and the Royal Surrey has nine cases to date and is on course to meet the NHS South East Coast target of 12 for hospitals in the South East.  The most recent case was reported on the 6^th November - 72 days without a MRSA bloodstream infection.