Eastbourne District General Hospital – down the road from SHS – has been battling with an outbreak of the C. difficile superbug. Wards have been closed for deep cleaning with gas, necessitating temporary refusal of new admissions.
Hydrogen peroxide, the gas used, kills of spores of C. difficile.
At the Eastbourne hospital the number of cases of this superbug hit 21 a month. The official figure deemed to be ‘acceptable’ is 16 cases a month.
The Chief Executive of East Sussex Hospital NHS Trust said that the problems at Eastbourne were exacerbated by an older population in the area, who were more susceptible to C. difficile.
Relatives of those who have died from the outbreak have appointed a solicitor to represent them. The daughter of one woman who died said she was horrified by the hygeine standards she observed at the hospital.
Avoid Hospitals if You Can
As always, our advice is only to go top hospital if you absolutely have to. It is easy to get infections at hospitals; and standards of cleanliness in UK hospital do not have anywhere near the best reputation in the EU.
