C.diff deaths double in two years

Clostridium difficile is a bacterium which usually lives in the intestine

The number of deaths involving the Clostridium difficile (C.diff) bug has almost doubled in the past two years, new figures have revealed.

General Register Office for Scotland statistics showed C.diff was a factor in 597 deaths last year, compared with 313 deaths in 2005.

Lib Dem health spokesman Ross Finnie said the figures made the case for a full public inquiry "unanswerable".

The health secretary said she did not underestimate the scale of the problem.

The figures showed there were 180 cases in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area last year where C.diff was either the underlying factor or a contributory factor in someone's death.

The families of those struck by the C.diff outbreak in the Vale of Leven hospital were very clear that this case resonated beyond Greater Glasgow Ross Finnie MSP Lib Dem health spokesman

However, the statistics do not include all of the deaths in the outbreak at the Vale of Leven Hospital in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire.

A total of 55 people were affected by the bug at the hospital between December of last year and June this year.

C.diff was the primary cause of death in nine patients there, and was also a contributory factor in another nine.

In 2006 there were 417 cases where C.diff was either the underlying cause of death or a contributory factor across Scotland.

Mr Finnie said: "The families of those struck by the C.diff outbreak in the Vale of Leven hospital were very clear that this case resonated beyond Greater Glasgow.

"These figures make the case for a full public inquiry into C. diff unanswerable."

'Reduce infection'

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said there was "no doubt that the increase in deaths is concerning."

"Patients and their relatives must have confidence in the safety of care they receive in our hospitals," she added.

"Every NHS board in Scotland has been left in no doubt of that, and that is why we are investing £54m over the next three years in measures to help reduce infection."