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Controlling hospital infection

Clear information on hospital infection and our good record of reducing any risk to you.

We understand that many patients are concerned about hospital acquired infections such as MRSA and C-difficile (C.diff) when they come into hospital.

At Warrington and Halton hospitals, infection control is our number one priority and the numbers of infections at our hospitals has reduced by over 90% in the last five years. Your hospitals are cleaner and safer than ever.

We have a proactive approach to infection control which saw just three cases of hospital acquired MRSA at our hospitals over the whole of last year (April 2014-March 2015). It has also seen Halton General Hospital be entirely free of hospital acquired MRSA infection for over six years.

Despite the hospitals treating more patients than ever, our rates of the more common C.diff infection reduced significantly last year. There were 31 cases across the hospitals over the course of the year.

On these pages we aim to provide you with practical and factual information on infection and infection control. We don't want patients to be scared or put off coming to hospital by the relatively low risk that hospital infections present - but at the same time we want you to be fully informed. We also need your help and support to reduce the risk of infection further.

You can also view our top tips for visitors below.

View our latest infection rates here in our transparency section Find out more about what MRSA is here Find out more about what C.diff is here

How we are reducing infection - and how you can help us

We are helping to reduce infection by:

  • Making sure staff and visitors wash their hands and use alcohol gel and/or soap and water
  • Prescribing antibiotics correctly as over-prescribing can cause problems
  • Ensuring that wards and equipment are cleaned thoroughly and checking standards regularly
  • Giving staff clear guidelines on how to deal with infections
  • Monitoring rates of infection and taking quick and positive action when we discover infection
  • Caring for patients with C.diff infection in a specialist cohort ward to provide the care they need to recover and to prevent the risk of this infection spreading.

You can help us to further reduce infection rates by:

  • Not coming into hospital to visit a relative if you are ill
  • Washing your hands every time you enter or leave a ward
  • Avoid eating at the bedside whilst visiting your relative
  • Challenging our staff if you don't think they have washed their hands.
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