Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

The reduction in prescribing antibiotics is likely to be the major factor regarding MRSA, as the Minister said. However, the situation regarding C. difficile seems to be a lot more to do with conditions in hospitals, such as isolation and cleanliness. The Minister rightly ordered that C. difficile be a notifiable disease since last May. Is she not shocked by the figures? They show that from May to the end of August, there were 867 cases of C. difficile or associated diseases reported to the authorities, which is a very large number in just four months.

How can the Minister ensure that cleanliness is given the priority that is necessary in our hospitals? We have all heard stories about people cleaning hospitals who have to cover large areas in a short space of time and there can be slap-dash cleaning in clinical areas and other areas. Serious concern has been expressed by patients about the cleanliness of hospital toilets and so on. Will the microbiologists and others who have responsibility for cleanliness have enough clout to ensure that appropriate funding is provided within the budgets in straitened times to ensure that this is a top priority for our hospitals?

See this speech in context