Jamie Hepburn, SNP MSP for Cumbernauld & Kilsyth, has welcomed the news that rates of both C.diff icile and MRSA in Scottish hospitals are now at their lowest ever levels.

The figures, published in the latest report by Health Protection Scotland, show that  for January to March 2011, show that Scotland has exceeded the challenge of a 50 per cent reduction in Clostridium difficile rates for over 65s – by delivering a 71 per cent decrease. The extra tough target was set by the Cabinet Secretary for Health Nicola Sturgeon in March 2010 after good progress was made on the official target of 30 per cent.  In NHS Lanarkshire, the number of C.diff cases has fallen from 226 in Jan-Mar 2007 to just 38 cases in the same period this year.

Commenting, Jamie Hepburn MSP said:

“The Scottish Government adopted a zero-tolerance approach to superbugs in our hospitals, and these figures show the efforts are paying off.

“Over the last four years there’s been a dramatic decline in the number of C-difficile cases in NHS Lanarkshire, which is a testament to the priority the SNP Government has put on investing in the health service.  Funding to tackle hospital-acquired infections has tripled over three years to £50million.

“Even in these difficult economic times, the SNP is committed to protecting health spending from UK cuts affecting other parts of our budget. Patients need to have confidence that they will receive top quality care in our NHS.”