MRSA infection reduction targets

Speaking to the Chief Nursing Officer's annual conference in Manchester in November 2004, the Secretary of State for Health John Reid announced that hospitals would be expected to halve MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infections by 2008 and demonstrate significant improvement year on year.

In 2007, a further target was set for a 30% reduction in the number of cases of C.difficile reported in 2010/11.

Results

A 2009 report by the National Audit Office suggested that the Department of Health had met the MRSA target and was making encouraging progress towards reducing C.difficile infections. Since the introduction of both targets, the department and other NHS bodies had closely performance-managed the system through the introduction of targets.