Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, and thank the Minister, Deputy Harney, for attending to listen to the first half of this debate.

I seldom agree with Senator Ryan but I was nodding quite a lot regarding points he made. He made practical suggestions, which I thought about making myself, on how best to overcome the problem of MRSA. It is a serious problem and our task is to determine how it can be kept out of hospitals. This is a fundamental question.

In a way I am glad Fine Gael tabled this motion but I hope it will acknowledge that every effort is being made to tackle the problem. It is a matter of how best we can come together to solve it. We need joined-up thinking rather than having everyone separated into little boxes, each doing his own thing. We have enormous numbers of staff in hospitals, all stretched to their potential to try to give a service. At the same time there is this awful infection that seems to be creeping into hospitals, nursing homes and other vulnerable areas in society. What can we do to alleviate this?

I welcome the Minister. I also welcome the range of initiatives she has introduced towards preventing the spread of MRSA in hospitals and vulnerable areas. The task of the new commission will be to put forward clean, clear and practical recommendations on performance, the reporting of adverse clinical events and complaints, a clearer role for patients and carers concerning feedback on care received, ways to ensure health care practice based on what has been seen to work in other countries and a statutory system for licensing public and private providers of health care. The last is especially interesting and I would welcome a prompt move on that.

The Minister has appointed the assistant national director of health protection within the HSE to lead this campaign against MRSA. She needs to have the support of all the interested bodies that work in hospitals, the joined-up thinking I referred to, because without an integrated workmanship style to counteract MRSA, we will not get it right. It will mean one body overlooking others and nothing effective will be done to clear up the mess.

I was very interested in the Minister's reference to a public awareness campaign. At that point I began to reflect on whether this bug existed in hospitals 20 years ago. As we know, there were hospital matrons in the past, particularly nuns, and I wonder whether they had a style of management which ensured everything was meticulously clean and there were no suggestions of slovenly workmanship in any shape or form. As a result of such management norms being replaced over time, workmanship, administration and so on has become slovenly.

Should there be better screening systems for visitors? I have visited patients in hospitals, wandering in outside visiting times, and very seldom have I been stopped. I do not want to compare the incidence of MRSA with the threatened onset of foot and mouth disease in the country some years ago. However, one can learn from the way that crisis was managed and how the screening process was so meticulous that the disease was wiped out before it ever caught hold. Perhaps the list which the Minister has itemised is the way forward. I repeat what she said about national visiting guidance:

Visiting hours and associated problems with the influx of visitors has been seen as a possible complicating factor in maintaining hospital hygiene and controlling [HCAIs]. A national visiting guidelines document has been produced by the HSE. I would ask all visitors to hospitals, in so far as is possible, to respect hospital visiting times and also to be vigilant in using the facilities available to ensure that their hands are not carrying infection to patients.

There is a significant problem of how to stop this infection. Very often infection is brought in from outside rather than emanating from within the hospital. I am more concerned about this rather than what is happening within the hospital. Perhaps sufficient attention is not being paid to hand washing and how professionals administer their duties to patients.

The Minister has started to introduce measures, however. I welcome the fact that Fine Gael tabled the motion to highlight what is being done and how important it is for the public at large to be made aware of the problem. People do not realise the danger until they have a patient from within their own family and are confronted with the horrors of MRSA. The might think it all emanates from inside the institutions and blame everybody, the consultants, the doctors, or nurses, when it might come from a vulnerable area within the community. Everyone has a responsibility in this. Nobody is to blame. It needs a collective approach as the only way to introduce proper hygiene measures and standards within hospitals and the community.

I welcome the Minister. She has given us a list and guidelines on how she proposes to move forward. She has started it and I know that she will be successful. However, we all have a role to play. If everyone addresses their responsibilities in this regard, we will achieve the necessary standards in hospitals.