"The nursing staff and auxiliary ..."

We are really pleased to read your kind comments about our nursing and auxiliary staff. Staff at East Cheshire NHS Trust are committed to making every patient’s stay as comfortable as possible. It is great to read that our high standards did not slip even when working under pressure over holiday periods. We are really sorry that you feel you were not well informed about what would happen after you were first admitted to hospital. It is not always possible to diagnose a pulmonary embolism with only a D Dimer test. It is possible that in your case more information was needed before the medical team could decide on your diagnosis and treatment. Your comment has been passed on to the respiratory team, and they have agreed to use your feedback in junior doctor training to raise awareness of possible communication issues.

The Trust is committed to cleanliness and the control and prevention of infections, so we are very pleased that you were impressed with the hand washing sinks and signs at the entrance. There are extra sinks installed at nurses’ stations and many doctors and nurses use these sinks instead of the sinks at the ward entrance. We encourage visitors to wash their hands by playing reminder messages over the tannoy system. We continue to reinforce the messages to staff in training sessions, and all staff computers have a screen saver reminding them to wash their hands and demonstrating the best way to wash hands.

We would like to reassure you with regard to the MRSA swab. All patients who are swabbed are given a leaflet full of information about MRSA. We apologise if you did not receive one. If you would like a leaflet please contact the Customer Care Team on freephone 0800 161 3997 or email CustomerCare.Service@echeshire-tr.nwest.nhs.uk

About 30% of people carry Staphylococcus Aureus on their skin or in their nose. This is completely harmless and can be treated. The antibiotic resistant strains (MRSA) may be carried in the same way. If someone is carrying MRSA on their skin it does not necessarily pose a risk to anyone else they come into contact with outside the hospital. In order to reduce risks we swab patients who may have come into contact with MRSA so that if MRSA is found we can treat it if clinically necessary. We are now screening all patients who come in to hospital for a planned operation, in order to further reduce the risk. The graphs you saw include the number of patients who have been found to have MRSA on their skin. These patients will have been nursed in isolation as a further precaution. We display this information on the ward so that we can be open and honest. We are sorry that seeing these figures made you worried. If you would like to discuss this further please contact the Customer Care Team on freephone 0800 161 3997 or email CustomerCare.Service@echeshire-tr.nwest.nhs.uk