Hospital acquired infections kill 5000 patients a year in England

About 5000 patients in England die each year from infections acquired in hospital, warned a report published last week. It recommended a major improvement in information systems in the NHS to track the problem and systematic use of measures to reduce transmission of infection among patients.

The report, published by the House of Commons public accounts committee, estimated that there are at least 100000 cases of hospital acquired infection in England each year. This costs the NHS as much as £1bn ($1.4bn) a year.

Members of the committee suggested that the NHS needed to tackle …