Raigmore Hospital's intensive care unit closed after bug discovered

Raigmore Hospital's intensive care unit closed after bug discovered ANOTHER ward at the Highlands' biggest hospital has had to close after a bug was discovered in three patients, it has emerged. This work is progressing well. Ron Coggins, Clinical Director for the Surgical Services Division, said: "Patients who were in ICU were transferred for their care to the theatre recovery area. There was no disruption to surgical services over the weekend. The identification of Pseudomonas comes on the back of a Clostridium difficile (C-diff) outbreak earlier in the year, which led to the closure of wards. In May, wards were also closed after an outbreak of the sickness bug novovirus. They are, however, very different bugs, and like Clostridium difficile, it's popular for Pseudomonas to be in a hospital environment. NHS Highland said the outbreak of C-Diff was subject to a detailed Significant Event Review report, which has now been published. "As the hospital operates 24-7 services it is common to have to temporarily shut areas to allow routine maintenance or upgrading work to happen, and this went very smoothly. Dr Rod Harvey, Associate Medical Director for Raigmore Hospital said: "We are already acting on the findings of Significant Event Review (SER). The source of the infection was linked back to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), which closed down temporarily and patients were moved to other theatres while deep cleaning got underway. The patients' clinical condition was not affected and they have all been discharged from hospital. This has now been completed and temporary arrangements will be stepped down tonight, with all patients and staff returning to the unit. To manage the situation, Raigmore implemented its business continuity arrangements for ICU and Intensive Care facilities, which allowed deep cleaning and re-testing to take place over the weekend. "The cleaning regimen we have used over the weekend reflects the recommendations from the Significant Event Review. This is part of our ongoing planned programme of work to systematically review all the clinical areas in the hospital. Dr Emma Watson, Lead Doctor in Infection Control, explained: "We are continuing to complete our investigations which form part of our routine plans for responding to situations likes this. It is unlikely to cause serious infection in healthy people. It was decided to close ICU as the most effective way of cleaning is to use hydrogen peroxide when no staff or patients are in the area. . Raigmore Hospital's intensive care unit closed after bug discovered Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 06/06/2012