Hospital-acquired infections; and smear-tests.
It's sad, how bitter the Tories become when Labour is too slow to clear up the mess they leave. They had of course expected that Kinnock would win in 1992, and catch the blame for Black Wednesday, and the inefficiency of the compulsorily contracted-out cleaners and dinner-ladies. But Major was too brave, and insisted on going out with his soap box. So today his party has tosmear all the harder.
However, dishonesty can have positive results. Just as thieves provide work for locksmiths, so smears about 'hospital acquired MRSA' will make it worth improving diagnosis.
It would anyway be hopeless to bring a case for damages over 'hospital induced MRSA' because of the difficulty of proving that the patient did not take the infection (which is endemic, but usually quiescent) into the hospital in the first place. Might as well sue over a 'hospital-induced cold'! Granted that outbreaks occur in hospitals, just as colds get worse in winter, that will very often be because immune-systems get weaker when the body gets cold or stressed. We should therefore welcome most warmly the news of a rapid diagnostic technique which aims to detect the presence of the bacteria at the time of admission. If it succeeds, it will both help to rid the hospitals of a nasty disease, and our political life of a nasty smear.
Henry
Posted on behalf of Henry by Nicholas
