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Hospital infection control topic of meeting in Holland |
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| Senator Richard T. Moore (center) discussed patient safety and infection control at a meeting with senior officials of the Dutch Health Ministry. Marieke H. Mossink, Policymaker (left) and G. J. Buijs, Director in the Curative Care Department of the Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport met at The Hague to discuss efforts sponsored by Sen. Moore to establish a statewide infection control program in Massachusetts. The Netherlands has developed policies that have kept hospital infections below 3% nationally. |
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THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS – Massachusetts is about to embark on a new statewide program to control infections acquired by patients in hospitals – a potentially fatal concern – and the Netherlands has managed to limit such infections below 3% nationally. This success story prompted Senator Richard T. Moore (D-Uxbridge), the architect of the new Massachusetts program, to visit with Dutch health officials in Amsterdam while on his way to a conference on long term care in Brussels.
Senator Moore met with two senior officials of the Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport in The Hague, the center of Dutch government. Participating in this exchange of health information were Marieke H. Mossink, Ph.D., a senior policy maker at the Health Ministry with special expertise in infection control, and Goof Buijs, Director of the Curative Care Department, an expert on patient safety matters. Senator Moore was advised that the Dutch medical profession and the government both take a dim view of improperly prescribing antibiotics for illnesses that do not effectively respond, such as common colds. The reason for this policy is that excessive prescribing of antibiotics results in viruses developing immunity to the antibiotics and losing their effectiveness. Consequently, new and stronger antibiotics have to be developed to deal with serious infections. The Dutch Health Ministry licenses and periodically inspects hospitals, much as is the case in Massachusetts with the Department of Public Health. Hospitals in the Netherlands voluntarily register for participation in the national infection control program, however, Dutch Health Care Authority’s hospital inspectorate asks hospitals if they are participating in the program. This simple inquiry by hospital inspectors has resulted in most hospitals deciding to join the program. When the infection control program was implemented in the Netherlands nearly fifteen years ago, the first year was spent in discussions with hospitals and physicians with the Dutch Working Group on Infection Prevention. Once guidelines for infection control were developed, the program was fully implemented. In addition to the subtle pressure brought to bear on hospitals through inquiries by government inspectors, health insurance companies encourage hospitals with whom they contract to be active participants in the national infection control program. Dr. Mossink noted that since insurers pay for most care, their influence can be significant on improving the rate of infections in hospitals. The Dutch Infection Control program established a goal of achieving an infection rate that averages below 5 percent and, Ms. Mossink noted, the program always pushes for better reports. The current estimate of hospital acquired infections in the Netherlands is about 3%. Infection rates in U. S. hospitals are considerably higher. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that as many as 40% of physicians fail to follow the standard protocol of routinely washing hands between patients. Dutch rules, on the other hand require handwashing, gloves, and face masks when dealing with patients. An interesting discovery by Dutch investigators was that opening doors to surgical suites during operations increased the chances of a patient acquiring an infection because the air circulation from the door could cause dust or other particles to contaminate the open wound. Mr. Buijs explained that the infection control program is constantly learning new sources of infections, such as the issue with the doors in surgery, and new ways to deal with these discoveries. Senator Moore explained that he plans to share the information received from Dutch health officials with Massachusetts hospital regulators and the licensing boards for physicians and nurses. He is pushing the department in Massachusetts to develop the best possible infection control program. |
