Hosptial infection rates now open to public scrutiny

Hospital infection rates will be open to scrutiny by potential patients as the Department of Health goes ahead with the publishing of hospital data this week.

Statistics on MRSA bloodstream infections and C. Difficile for the months March and May 2010 have just been released.

Up-to-date infection figures for every NHS hospital in England will be logged weekly from early July on data.gov.uk.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: “We want to make the large amounts of data that are already collected and used internally in the NHS work for patients, not just managers.  All information that is useful and relevant to patients should be published in an accessible and open way.”