Hospital managers could face criminal charges if patients catch superbugs

The new British health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, has warned that hospital managers could face criminal charges if patients catch superbugs on dirty wards.

Ms Hewitt has promised a "much stronger" legal framework in the National Health Service (NHS) to help hospitals reduce the rate of antibiotic-resistant MRSA and other hospital acquired infections.

Hewitt's comments come as the government is about to introduce a hygiene bill for the NHS and care homes as part of its 18-month legislative programme. The programme will be unveiled in the Queen's, and will place a legal obligation on managers to keep their hospitals free of the MRSA bug.

Ms Hewitt said the government was also considering introducing criminal liability for NHS trust chief executives who did not implement infection control effectively.

Though the best hospitals already had superbugs "pretty much under control", says Ms Hewitt, more had to be done to tackle those that failed to meet standards. She says it is not tolerable to have a situation where there are tougher hygiene laws and standards in food factories than there are for people who are very, very seriously ill in hospital.

Ms Hewitt also said that hospital visitors had to take greater responsibility for fighting the spread of infections, but that did not mean everyone on a routine visit to a hospital would have to wear gloves and masks.

A spokesman at the Department of Health confirmed the moves were under consideration, and said the issue of liability is being looked at, but the main aim of the proposals was to ensure an effective inspection regime exists and they will be considering what appropriate sanctions would be. However a much stronger legal framework is needed.

The NHS Confederation, the organisation representing NHS trusts, have expressed astonishment at the government moves.

Nigel Edwards, the confederation's director of policy, says that holding hospital managers criminally liable will not solve the MRSA issue, and threatening health workers with prison suggests that the government believes doctors and managers will only take the issues of MRSA seriously when they risk manslaughter charges, which is ' clearly ludicrous and hugely damaging to morale '.

Edwards says that improving infection control will only be achieved by a partnership which works between the government, managers and clinical staff, and making one individual solely responsible is both 'counter-productive and grossly inappropriate '.