Camillus Glynn (Fianna Fail)

I will be honest that I am firmly on the side of the consumer in this regard. The Minister and the Government are endeavouring to tackle the situation as the current position is unacceptable. I am delighted the Fine Gael motion advocates the control of visitors. I recall a time when my local hospital in Mullingar controlled the number of visitors to a patient. The hospital might have let two visitors visit a close relative, but rarely three and if visitors were not close relatives, they might not have been let in at all, rather the hospital staff would convey the visitors' good wishes to the patient. We have become lax on the issue of visitors.

I have never been convinced that the use of contract cleaning services in hospitals was the right way to go. Hospitals are places where, as expected, we find many sick people with varying degrees of infection, many of which are contagious, whether by droplet infection or direct contact. It is imperative therefore to minimise movement. Formerly, even when training nurses to make beds, minimum movement was advocated to prevent the spread of infection. The disposal of human and other waste such as blood, urine, faeces, pus, etc. was always deemed a nursing duty because these wastes were a source of infection.

We could take the co-operation that existed among Seán and Mary citizen during the last outbreak of foot and mouth disease as an example to follow. We must commend the Minister and Ministers of State at the time, Deputies Walsh, Davern and Brendan Smith, on the manner in which they advanced the need for vigilance. The Government, the Minister and all Members are endeavouring to get the message across that MRSA can only be eradicated or kept to a minimum with the co-operation of everybody.

I agree with the suggestion that we introduce a policy to test patients at source. In an effort to reduce the incidence of MRSA, one Galway hospital has introduced a policy of testing all patients for the bug and informing them of the result. Among the first things that should be done in a doctor's surgery is to inform the patient of a definitive diagnosis, since it is a human right to know.

Unfortunately, I have much more to say on this subject but lack the time. I welcome the appointment of nurses with responsibility for infection control, since a single case of MRSA is one too many. I ask the Minister to give sympathetic consideration to those who have contracted MRSA and assist them and their families in any way possible, especially those who contracted the scourge in hospital.

I compliment Senator Henry on stressing the role of antibiotics at a recent meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children. It is not rocket science to know that if someone is admitted to hospital with a throat or eye infection or an open, pus-covered wound, a culture should be taken to test sensitivity. Reaching for a prescription pad without knowing the organism that has caused the infection or its sensitivity to a given antibiotic is not the right way to treat a patient. I commend Senator Henry on her remarks in that regard.