Nursing team fights MRSA superbug

The Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath is run by the trust

An NHS trust that saw a sudden rise in MRSA cases has brought in a team of nurses dedicated to tackling the bug.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals saw rates of infection jump early in 2006 after nine months of steady decline.

Now the trust has brought in a team of seven nurses and health workers who can be bleeped to assist staff clinically and advise on infection control.

The trust said only two such teams have been brought in across the country.

Measures now in place at the hospital include staff being encouraged not to wear watches or ties in a bid to stop infection being spread.

'No obvious reason'

Health chiefs said that educating staff on infection control would lead to better out-of-hours compliance with techniques.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust reported 42 cases from January to March in 2006, up 13 from the last three months of 2005.

At the time, it said there was no "obvious identifiable reason to explain this".

Before the recent sharp rise, the trust said the number of cases had fallen.

There were 36 cases from April to June 2005, 33 from July to September and then 29 from October to December.