Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress the Government has made on reducing infection rates in hospitals; and if he will make a statement.

Public Health England (PHE) collects data on the number of healthcare associated infections as part of the English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance, available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-surveillance-programme-antimicrobial-utilisation-and-resistance-espaur-report

The latest data show cases of hospital-onset Clostridium difficile infection decreased by 18% from 1,149 in October-December 2017 to 938 in the same period in 2018. Hospital-onset Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Escherichia coli bloodstream infections remained stable over the last five years although hospital-onset Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) cases have increased slightly. This data can be found in the Epidemiological Commentary on mandatory surveillance and is available to view at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/739910/Quarterley_Epidemiology_Commentary_September_18.pdf

PHE supports NHS Improvement by making local data on rates of healthcare-associated infections available to hospitals and clinical commissioning groups via its Fingertips web portal available at the following link:

https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/amr-local-indicators