Imperial to lead £4.2M project to tackle healthcare-associated infections

Researchers from Imperial College London, UK, are to lead a new £4.2 million consortium to tackle healthcare-associated infections, such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile.

Just over 8 per cent of all hospital inpatients in England develop a healthcare associated infection, with this figure rising to 23 per cent in intensive care units. Preventing and controlling the transmission of infection is a key priority for those involved in healthcare.

The new London consortium will look at healthcare associated infections from a wide range of angles, from exploring the molecular make-up of bacteria to addressing how best to bring about changes in practice across healthcare.

Its projects will span from springing into action if a particularly virulent strain of MRSA emerges, analysing its particular signature so it can be quickly detected and controlled, to finding the best ways to change the habits of hospital staff, patients and visitors to prevent infections from occurring and spreading.

The new initiative, announced by the UK Clinical Research Consortium, comprises Imperial College London, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and the Health Protection Agency. One of its key aims is to ensure that benefits from the research reach patients as quickly and effectively as possible.

Dr Alison Holmes, co-lead on the project, is the Director of Infection Control and Prevention at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and a researcher in Imperial’s Division of Investigative Science. She explained: “It’s vital that we carry out basic science to gain a better understanding of existing infections and newly emerging strains, and that we identify the very best ways to fight them. However, it’s only through figuring out how to make people change their habits and practices across our hospitals and the wider healthcare community that we can improve the picture across the UK. “

“This is a crucial part of our new project – to ensure that we’re not just coming up with great new ideas, we’re making sure they become part of practice on the wards and in how we manage our hospitals,” added Dr Holmes.

Another strand of the project will involve healthcare management experts from Imperial College’s Tanaka Business School to explore how to change the behaviour of individuals and whole organisations in the NHS, so that new innovations are adopted rapidly and best practice is embedded and sustained.

Researchers will also be exploring the most effective messages to encourage everyone, from senior consultants to cleaning staff, to prevent infection, improve antibiotic practice and take the relevant steps to keep infection under control. Another part of the project will investigate how to better educate pharmacists about countering resistance to antibiotics.

The researchers will also be looking at how the NHS can use existing and new data to analyse infections at every level, from whole UK regions to individual hospital wards, in order to reveal where there are particular infection problems and explore the causes behind these and target action at the earliest opportunity.

Professor Steve Smith, Principal of the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London and Chief Executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “All of us involved in running hospitals want to make sure that our patients receive the best possible care and a key aspect of this is making sure we minimise their risk of contracting an infection.”