Clostridium Difficile

The Welsh Assembly shadow health minister has called for an independent inquiry into an outbreak of a deadly bug which has been linked to seven patient deaths in one hospital.

Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, had 33 cases of the clostridium difficile (C diff) bug on their wards in April alone, and shadow health minister Jonathan Morgan AM has now called upon the Auditor General, Jeremy Colman, to intervene in the matter.

In a letter to Mr Coleman, Mr Morgan said: "I understand that in April this year 33 patients at the hospital were found with C diff, seven of whom died with it being mentioned on the death certificate.

"Apparently the figure has risen considerably from 15 last year.

"Whilst I appreciate that your office has already done a considerable amount of work on the challenges faced by our hospitals in combating the spread of infection (and the Audit Committee report) I was wondering if you could examine the specific issues at Merthyr."

Mr Morgan added that there may be more acute problems at Prince Charles Hospital than in other hospitals, which could explain the increase.

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