Posted By Martin R. Bessant
Hi Tom,

You have raised an interesting question.

When I was working for the NHS we ensured that all staff working with patients were sceened for MRSA, and if positive given remedial treatment and rescreened.

If your staff member is in that category, then I would have thought that the employer's risk assessment should cover the need to regularly screen them for the organism.

If they are not involved in patient care and have no access directly to the infection, it is more likely that they could have contacted it outside employment. It is known that persons can act as carriers for this illness without showing symptoms.

I know myself that it is easy to get an infection on the wards. I was MRSA negative until I needed major surgery last year and acquired it whilst in the Intensive Care Unit.of my local hospital (not work I should add). The District Nurses took weeks to get rid of it after the operation from the wound site whilst back at home.

I think that the staff member would have to prove that it was the fault of the hospital that they acquired the infection whilst at work!

It will be interesting to see if there are other responses and views on this subject.

Good Luck.

Posted By Tom Maher
John,
I realise the implication of the CoSHH regs. in this situation, however, what I need to assess is how hazardous is MRSA colonisation (as opposed to infection)to "healthy" employees

Posted By Martin R. Bessant
Hi Tom,

Yes you are right about the almost endemic levels of MRSA within healthcare. We used to screen nurses and other workers who worked on the care of the elderly unit. This was the only active medical type wards we had as we were a community and mental health trust. I am sure that acute hospitals have more of a problem, but my wife works in one and they screen the ITU and paediactric staff routinely.

Unfortunately, hospitals seem to get re-infected via patients and visitors and it is totally impracticable to sceen them routinely. I do think that patients are screened if they are on a "high risk" unit such as ITU, CCU and Renal Dialysis to make sure that they are not carrying.

I do know that when I was working,I had to have a screen because I was going into wards etc. as part of the job.

I read a few days ago about a new wound treatment using honey with Teatree extracts which has anti bacterial properties. This might be useful for infected wounds. I also know personally that my wounds were treated with Bactoban which is a seaweed derivertive.

It will be interesting to see if the Bacteriologists are able to come up with other non antibiotic treatments which do not become ineffective due to drug resistance.
Another good example being the current resistant TB outbreak.

I was under the impression that COSHH is not appicable for infections in a clinical situation where a patient is under active medical treatment. I may be wrong but that was the rationale that I used to use.

Good luck.