Looking to the future: decisions need to be made

摘要

In years to come we may look back at the spectre of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) as a mere unwieldy obstacle of a past age where our ignorance to infection prevention and control led to an unnecessarily high level of morbidity and mortality in the early 21st century; a time when new strains of bacteria threatened the integrity of the NHS, but quick thinking, scientific development and a dedicated healthcare workforce eliminated this threat, making it a thing of the past. Conversely we may look back and see it as the single most important precipitating factor to the downfall of a national institution put in place to safeguard the nation's health, to provide free healthcare to all citizens. Either way, this is a turning point, and where we go from here may well decide the future outcome, and there can only be one: success. Now, this may all sound a bit 'Armageddon' and over the top, and maybe it is, but it makes the current and future threat no less important - we only have ourselves to blamefor this situation. Our past, at times, cavalier attitude to HCAIs such as meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant S.Aureus (VRSA) and Clostridium difficile, have allowed these infections to not only occur, but to proliferate at an exceptional rate. The advent of such resistant organisms can, to a certain extent, be attributed to the long-known risks of over prescribing antibiotics, and exploration of the issues of cleanliness on the ward has been relentless in recent years.