THE number of patients being screened for MRSA in Oxford is set to quadruple following the start of a new Government initiative to tackle the deadly bug.

The initiative means all non-emergency patients at the John Radcliffe, Churchill and Nuffield hospitals, and the Horton in Banbury, will be checked for the virus before they go in for operations.

The Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals trust estimates it will screen 80,000 patients over the coming year – 60,000 more than in 2008.

The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre expects to carry out 10,000 screens a year after checking only 10 at-risk patients in 2008.

The move, which follows tougher targets introduced by the Government last year, will cost £600,000 a year.

Almost all the ORH’s 21,000 yearly inpatients and 59,000 day cases will be now be checked for the bug.

The only people exempt will be those going in for minor daytime treatment such as dental surgery, eye surgery and minor skin treatments such as wart removal.

People attending hospital for routine tests and scans such as x-rays will also be excluded.

Between February 2009 and March last year, 49 patients were found to have MRSA at ORH hospitals – although it cannot be determined whether these people contracted the virus in hospital or were already carrying the bug.

The NOC has not had a case of MRSA since October 2007.The NOC’s senior infection control nurse, Lydia Rylance-Knight, said: “We don’t want patients to worry unduly about this new screening process, which is a measure to prevent healthcare-associated infections.

“Many people carry MRSA without ever being aware of this.

“It is only when undergoing surgery that there may be a risk.

“By having a swab taken and using the body wash, we can plan patient care more effectively and reduce the risk of MRSA infection.”

Incoming patients will now have a swab taken during their appointment with an outpatient nurse at the hospital.

This involves rubbing a cotton bud in the nose and on any area of broken skin.

It takes between two and three days for the hospital to discover if someone has MRSA.

Patients who are found to be carrying the bug will be given a body wash and a nasal cream for five days to clear the problem.

Those found to be clear will be still be given the wash and cream to use for two days before their operation.

The chairman of Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, Dr Mary Archer, has attacked the Government over extra MRSA screening, claiming the move will cost it £300,000 a year.

But ORH spokesman Oliver Francis said: “We are very happy to implement this. It is another weapon in our armoury to fight MRSA.”

cwalker@oxfordmail.co.uk