HOSPITAL acquired infections were responsible for the deaths of more than 400 people in Scotland last year.

New figures published by the Scottish executive reveal for the first time the shocking toll caused by superbugs.

Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a superbug that does not respond to antibiotics, was a direct cause of 42 deaths, while clostridium difficile, a virulent stomach bug, was responsible for 98.

The superbug vancomycin resistant enterococci was also listed on a death certificate. All were contracted while patients were being treated in Scottish hospitals.

The death rate from MRSA and clostridium difficile has risen by more than 40% since 2001 and is marginally higher than in England.

The statistics will cause further embarrassment to the Scottish executive, which was forced to admit earlier this year that its £15m drive to tackle the menace of hospital acquired infections (HAIs) had failed to curb their spread.

Last week a ward at Ninewells hospital in Dundee was closed after 16 of its 24 elderly patients were found to have been infected with MRSA.

The closure followed the death of Charles Bryson, 68, who caught the bug from a fellow patient at the hospital where he was being treated after stepping on a drawing pin.

Professor Hugh Pennington, the microbiologist and expert on HAIs based at Aberdeen University, said the death toll from both bugs in Scotland is unacceptable. “These figures are obviously too high, most of these deaths are preventable,” he said. “Both bugs have strains which have specialised in spreading in hospitals. If we had cleaner hospitals which dealt with infections more effectively then we could pretty well get rid of them.

“It is too early to say whether what we are doing now will solve the problem. I have my doubts that it will reduce the levels of MRSA to what we could reduce it to. Countries such as Holland and Norway have virtually eradicated the bugs from their hospitals.”

Margaret Davidson, chief executive of the Scotland Patients’ Association, added: “These figures are appalling. One death is too many, 400 are simply not acceptable. The Scottish executive’s initiatives have not worked and they must now do something to finally get rid of these bugs.”

Every year more than 33,000 patients develop infections in hospital. HAIs cost the National Health Service £186m and are responsible for the loss of 380,000 bed days every year.

The figures were published in response to a written question by the Scottish National party’s Stewart Stevenson.

The Scottish executive said: “Across the NHS we have invested £15m in a comprehensive infection control campaign to combat the problem of healthcare associated infections. Good hand hygiene, prudent antibiotic prescribing and comprehensive staff training all play a vital role in controlling infection and we now have measures in place for this.”

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