Doctors ditch ties to help stop MRSA

8:08am Wednesday 12th December 2007

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Doctors have been banned from wearing ties because of fears they might help spread infections.

New dress codes have been brought in by Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust and East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust as part of measures to tackle bugs such as the potentially fatal MRSA.

The move is in line with Department of Health instructions issued earlier this year.

A spokesman for Worthing and Southlands said all staff working directly in clinical areas will abandon ties in favour of open neck shirts with short sleeves or sleeves rolled above the elbow.

Worthing medical director and head of infection control Mike Rymer said: 'The dress code is in place to help ensure effective hand hygiene throughout the trust.

"Ties can, on occasion, form a point of contact between patient and staff. Patient safety is our absolute priority and we are constantly reviewing all the measures we take to protect patients from infection."

A spokesman for East Sussex Hospitals, which runs Eastbourne District General Hospital and the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards, confirmed the trust has also adopted the new policy.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, brought in the measures a year ago as part of a new dress code.

The trust, which runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, felt ties were superfluous and as they were not cleaned as often as other items of clothing they could be an infection hazard.

Other regulations include a ban on wrist jewellery, including watches and minimal hand jewellery.

Brighton and Sussex medical director Matthew Fletcher said: "The trust has six top priorities and eliminating avoidable infections from our hospitals is one of them.

"The numbers of cases of both MRSA and C-difficile are coming down and our staff are working extremely hard to keep these numbers low and reduce them further.

"We will also keep telling the public what we are doing so they can have confidence that our hospitals are clean and safe.

"The dress code is one element of an extremely broad programme of work."

A total of 45 people have had MRSA diagnosed at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath since April and between 60 and 65 cases are expected to be recorded by the end of next March.

This is a significant improvement on a year ago when 103 cases were recorded.

As well as enforcing its dress code, Brighton and Sussex managers have brought in other tough measures including deep cleaning all hospital areas and the creation of a ward at the Royal Sussex specifically for the treatment of patients with C-difficile.