MRSA Screening Policy |
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Aim The screening of patients will identify MRSA carriers either before or on admission. This will allow measures to be put in place to reduce the risk of infection for these patients and to other vulnerable patients in hospital. Elective admissions All elective admissions are screened for MRSA, either at the time of admission or, for those attending pre-admission clinics, before admission. MRSA screening for Day Surgery patients will be introduced from the 1st April 2009 via the Cherwell Pre-admission Clinic. The following groups should not be routinely screened as per the Dept of Health Operational Guidance:
Emergency admissions All adult patients admitted as an emergency are screened on admission. Children/paediatrics are not screened unless in a high risk group, identified through the MRSA risk assessment as per the MRSA policy. Screening sites All patients will undergo an MRSA risk assessment in pre-admission clinic or on admission. This will identify the sites to be screened. Patients with no risks will have a nose swab only. Any patients identified as high risk will have nose and groin swabs plus any wounds/lesions. Any patient with a urinary catheter will require a CSU. Treatment Only a small number of the total patients screened will be identified as being MRSA carriers. These patients will be offered treatment to suppress the MRSA and reduce the risk of infection to the patient at the time of their treatment and to reduce the spread of MRSA to other vulnerable patients. Elective orthopaedic and some other groups of surgical patients will be advised to contact their GP to obtain the MRSA treatment regime and to have 3 screens for clearance before admission. Day surgery patients, or those with urgent admission dates seen in pre-admission clinic, will be advised to commence the 5 day decolonisation regime 4 or 5 days before their admission. The admission of a patient for treatment will not be delayed due to the result of an MRSA screen. Advice regarding patients undergoing surgery that require prophylactic antibiotics can be obtained from the Microbiologist. Patients may need to be isolated in a single room if admitted to hospital while still MRSA positive. Assurance of compliance Evidence that patients have been screened will be provided by two methods. Firstly by comparison of numbers of patients admitted matched to numbers of patients screened per ward/area. Secondly by audit at ward level of patients directly matched to their screen. This audit will be carried out by the IP&C Practice Nurses. The results of the screening compliance will be presented monthly to the IP&C Forum, Clinical Governance & Risk Committee and the Trust Board. The figures will also be available via the Trust Intranet and Internet sites.
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March 2009 |