Wrightington Hospital, part of Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust, (WWL) has joined forces with 30 organisations across the NHS to reduce infections from MSSA for patients having hip and knee replacement surgery.
This unique collaborative, called QIST (Quality Improvement for Surgical Teams) infection, will drive forward improvements for patients by ‘scaling up’ interventions such as screening and the use of bodywash and nasal gel treatments for patients carrying the bug, to reduce infections and save lives.
Joanne Bark, Directorate Manager for Trauma & Orthopaedics at WWL said: “We are delighted to be part of this unique programme which will help us to improve care for our patients and support further adoption across the NHS so many more patients can benefit in the future too.
“If, through this collaborative, we can prevent even just one infection – which can be devastating and life changing for any patient and their loved ones – that will be fantastic.
“By joining forces and working collaboratively I am confident that being part of this project will benefit far more patients than that and beyond our local area too.”
MSSA is a common cause of infection in joint replacement surgery. Research has shown that interventions – such as decolonisation using nasal gel and body washes – can reduce the risk of infection from MSSA by 60 per cent in some cases.
These interventions have already been tested by Northumbria Healthcare which has adapted a MSSA ‘care bundle’ or ‘checklist’ to meet the needs of patients having joint replacement surgery.
Clinical Director for Trauma and Orthopaedics at Northumbria Healthcare and Chief Investigator for the QIST infection collaborative, Professor Mike Reed said: “The overall ambition of this collaborative is to prove the case we can successfully introduce these interventions and improve care for patients having joint replacement surgery so that they become routine clinical practice across the NHS.”
Joanne added: “Wrightington Hospital has an international reputation for excellence in orthopaedics; we carry out more Orthopaedic activity than any other hospital in the North West – over 3,000 hip and knee surgery replacements each year.
“We are first in England for the volume of hip and shoulder replacement undertaken and third in England for volume of knee replacements.
“We are already ranked first in the whole of the UK for low infection rates within the NHS and the quality of our surgical operations means that the need for additional surgery is below the national average which means patients have a much higher chance of experiencing long term results.”
You can find out more about QIST at www.qist.org.uk/#clinical-trials or follow them on Twitter @QISTinfection
