Jewellery crackdown on superbugs

Hospital staff in and around Kidderminster are being urged to stop wearing watches and rings as part of a £1 million campaign to stop the spread of superbugs such as MRSA.

More than 100 patients caught the C.diff infection, which mostly affects elderly people, during stays at hospitals in Worcestershire between April and June this year.

Infection rates at Kidderminster Hospital, Alexandra Hospital in Redditch and Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester dropped to 28 in August and September, while four MRSA cases were recorded across Worcestershire Hospitals in May and one in June.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is now asking staff to keep to a 'naked below the elbow' dress code. Identity badges worn around the neck are also being phased out.

Worcestershire Royal Hospital associate medical director Dr Steve Graystone said: "The guidance for doctors, nurses and other clinical staff having direct contact with patients is short or rolled up sleeves, no wristwatches and no rings, other than wedding rings."

Chief executive John Rostill said: "Reducing infection rates remains a top priority for this trust but I believe we are starting to make real positive progress."