DOCTORS should throw away their ties and wash their hands more often to try to reduce healthcare-related infections.

The British Medical Association (BMA) says in a new report that ties perform no function, can get contaminated with bacteria such as MRSA, and are rarely cleaned. Suiting the action to the word, Sir Charles George, the chairman of the BMA’s board of science, yesterday introduced the report by removing his tie, a classy and immaculately clean blue number.

“We all carry germs with us and ties are an unnecessary piece of clothing,” said Professor Vivienne Nathanson, one of the report’s authors, who was not wearing one. “We don’t say that people should wear scrubs, but it is important that they minimise the risk of spreading infections.”

Robert Spencer, a microbiologist from Bristol who is chairman of the Hospital Infection Society and an adviser for the report, said: “We can probably reduce the incidence by about 15 per cent, saving money and helping patients.” But no country had been able to eliminate such infections, he added.

The single most important recommendation made is that doctors and other healthcare workers should wash their hands with soap and water more often. Ideally this should be done after every contact with a patient, but in practice that would be impossible. So, between patients, alcohol-based gels should be accessible and should be used.

The growth of healthcare-related infections is in part because of the increasing use of catheters. Many patients carry infections harmlessly on their skin, but these can become a hazard when catheters are introduced, allowing the germs to gain access to internal organs and the bloodstream.

The report says that reduced bed numbers and higher patient turnover to meet performance targets “resulted in higher bed occupancy, which is not consistent with good infection control”.

Such infections contribute to the deaths of up to 5,000 people in the UK every year, and cost the NHS £1 billion a year. In England, the report says, 300,000 patients acquire infections every year.

BATTLING MRSA

In 2004 a target was set of reducing MRSA infections by half — from an annual rate of 7,684 to 3,842 by 2008. This month the Department of Health said that half of acute trusts were on target to meet this pledge, but half were behind

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