Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance is given to hospitals on screening for the diagnosis of superbug bacterial infections.

Guidance on screening for the diagnosis of bacterial infections is organism or resistance specific. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) recommends the active patient admission screening of risk groups to minimise the impact of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE). Patients should be strongly considered for screening on admission if they are likely to stay in hospital overnight and if in the last 12 months, they have been previously identified as CPE positive; been an inpatient in any hospital in the United Kingdom or abroad; had multiple hospital treatments; had a known epidemiological link to a known carrier of CPE; and they are admitted into augmented care or high-risk units.

The UKHSA also recommends screening for candida auris in hospital units which have ongoing cases and/or colonisations, or identification of a new infected or colonised patient. The UKHSA’s antimicrobial resistance and healthcare associated infections reference unit supports the diagnosis of bacterial infections, including carbapenem-resistant bacteria, Staphylococcus and Acinetobacter species and Neisseria gonorroheae. The unit also provides information and advice on infection prevention and control issues.