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New minimum standards for MRSA screening in Scottish hospitals have been unveiled today.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has accepted the MRSA National Programme Board's recommendations which will see more patients routinely screened for MRSA.

The expert group's reports, published today, have recommended that all patients should be screened on admission - or before admission in the case of planned admissions - using a clinical risk assessment approach to identify risk. Where a patient is identified as being at risk, they will have swabs taken for further laboratory testing.

Patients in five high risk specialties - renal, cardiothoracic, vascular, intensive care and orthopaedics - will be routinely tested using swabbing.

Ms Sturgeon said:

"I've made tackling healthcare associated infections - such as MRSA - a priority and we've put in place a range of measures which are driving infection rates down.

"MRSA screening is already used throughout Scotland but I have today accepted the expert group's recommendations to put in place national minimum requirements that will extend the scope of our existing approach to screening.

"Their advice is based on results from a world leading scientific based study in Scotland completed over the past two years. I am proud that, yet again, NHSScotland is taking the lead in developing effective evidence based policies that help to minimise the risk of avoidable harm to patients and from which other countries can learn.

"Importantly, this approach will help to further ensure those potentially at risk from MRSA infection are either treated prior to admission or cared for in appropriate isolation facilities, whilst laboratory results are awaited, to prevent the risk of infection spreading."

Professor Jacqui Reilly, the MRSA Screening Programme Director at Health Protection Scotland, said:

"These reports evaluate the impact of implementation of universal screening for MRSA and give an early indication that it may be of additional benefit in reducing infections. Maximising the potential for this benefit to be realised is dependent upon ensuring the interventions associated with screening occur in a timely manner so as to reduce infections and should form part of an overall strategy for reducing healthcare associated infection.

"The reports also detail the results of studies evaluating the best approach to screening, from a clinical and cost effectiveness perspective. The findings indicate that universal clinical risk assessment is as effective as universal laboratory screening, but costs significantly less.

"The information contained in this suite of reports has helped to inform the future MRSA screening policy direction in Scotland as we have seen with the announcement made by the Scottish Government today."

Health Protection Scotland will work with health boards to develop an operating protocol and co-ordinate roll-out of the national policy approach. The new screening arrangements will be introduced in 2012.

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