Hospitals tell visitors to keep off the beds to cut MRSA cases

One of the country's biggest NHS trusts has banned visitors from sitting on patients' beds in hospital in an attempt to cut rates of the superbug MRSA. Friends and relatives will have to sit on chairs when they visit patients in the four hospitals run by Southampton University Hospitals NHS trust.

Young children will only be able to visit with the approval of the ward manager, and visitors will be asked to use alcohol hand gel before and after each visit.

The measures - which came into effect yesterday - follow the publication of national statistics which showed the trust came 40th out of the 174 trusts in England for rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). There were 92 cases at the trust in 2005-06, with 44 of these in the six months to April. The average number of cases for hospital trusts in England for this six-month period was 20, with six reporting no cases.

A spokeswoman at the trust, the eighth largest acute trust in England, said: "Only two visitors at a time will be allowed at the bedside and they should sit on chairs rather than the patient's bed to minimise infection risks.

"Visitors are asked not to bring very young children into the hospital, unless agreed with the ward manager, and to avoid visiting if they feel unwell. In an attempt to boost cleanliness and drive down infection, all members of the public will be encouraged to use alcohol hand gel before and after they visit."

The new measures form part of a visiting code which also asks visitors to observe normal visiting hours between 3pm and 8pm and not to visit between 5.30pm and 7.30pm, when the evening meal is served. The move should allow patients to rest and give staff sufficient time to ensure the wards are clean.

Director of nursing Judy Gillow said: "We appreciate that having family and friends visit when you are ill is important and we are not aiming to stop that. We are trying to balance this against the need to ensure patients have rest times, few interruptions at meals and the ward can be cleaned properly."

The trust stressed that MRSA infections went down by 41% between April and June this year, compared with the same period last year, but said prevention was continuing. Overall in England levels of MRSA dipped slightly last year - from 7,233 to 7,087 - but the number of cases falls far short of a government target to halve the number by 2008.

The Royal College of Nursing said the measures would improve patient care and the clinical environment.

Doctors are particularly concerned by MRSA because of its resistance to some antibiotics. It is particularly dangerous for hospital patients, who already have weakened immune systems, since this resistance means it cannot be cleared up swiftly. Hand-washing by doctors and nurses is seen as crucial to prevent the spread of the infection.