Every tenth hospital treatment hurts

Every tenth hospital treatment harms the patient according to an EU evaluation

10.01.2011

Hygiene shortcomings and treatment errors mean that around one in ten hospitalizations in the EU cause harm to patients in the EU, said EU Health Commissioner John Dalli. About ten percent of hospital treatments in the EU involve infections with hospital germs and errors in medical treatment, according to the latest statistics from the European Commission. „In the European Union, every tenth medical treatment in the hospital causes harm to patients“ EU Health Commissioner John Dalli told the daily „The world“. The expert stressed that „many of these medical treatment errors (...) are preventable“ are.

Hygiene deficiencies in hospitals lead to infections
The EU Health Commissioner was alarmed at the current numbers and called for better hospital management and ongoing training of medical staff. In particular, the hygiene situation in the clinics raises considerable concerns for the EU Commission, because: „around 37,000 people die every year in the EU from hospital infections and 4.1 million are infected by hospital germs each year“, explained the EU Health Commissioner. Klaus-Dieter Zastrow, spokesman for the German Society for Hospital Hygiene, added in an interview with the daily newspaper „The world“: „Many medical treatments fail to meet minimum hygiene standards. Many people die who do not have to die.“ John Dalli stressed that sanitation should not be underestimated, even if many clinics are under growing financial pressure. To verify compliance, stricter controls are also needed, the EU Health Commissioner continued.

Multiresistant pathogens (MRSA) in German hospitals
According to the spokesman of the German Society for Hospital Hygiene (DGKH), in recent years in Germany in particular the steadily increasing infections with MRSA - multidrug-resistant bacterial strains of the genus Staphylococcus aureus (staphylococci), which no longer respond to treatment with common antibiotics - a serious problem. Staphylococci are generally relatively common and found in just under a third of all people on the nasal mucosa. However, the bacteria are only dangerous to humans if they can penetrate the body, as is often the case in clinics. A weakened immune system favors the spread of the pathogens. If the hygiene regulations are not complied with in the clinics and antibiotics are used frequently and lightly, the staphylococcal pathogens develop relatively easily the mentioned resistances and are then only extremely difficult to treat. According to the experts of the DGKH, up to one million patients in Germany are infected each year with dangerous germs due to hygiene sloppiness in the hospitals.

Approximately 40,000 to 50,000 people die of the possible consequences such as sepsis, urinary tract infections, inflammation of the inner lining (endocarditis), gangrene or pneumonia, according to the DGKH. However, there are no concrete statistics, since according to the Infection Protection Act only the „heaped occurrence“ of infections has to be reported to the health department, explained Klaus-Dieter Zastrow. The DGKH spokesman stressed how important uniform rules throughout Germany would be, because „Bacteria are the same everywhere, for them there are no differences between the federal states.“ There is still a considerable need for action in terms of hygiene, especially in ICUs, as they are not always adequately staffed at night in order to guarantee the necessary hygiene for the benefit of the patients, said Zastrow.

Improve patients' rights in case of treatment errors
EU Health Commissioner John Dalli said many of the medical malpractice errors could also be avoided by continuously improving medical staff and improving hospital management. In addition, the rights of patients to treatment errors should be significantly expanded, according to the EU Health Commissioner's call to the EU member states. It is also about complaints to facilitate a treatment error and to ensure appropriate compensation. In addition, the treatment errors should be better recorded, not least to serve the patient in the selection of their clinics as a selection criterion.

Federal government wants to act fast
The health policy FDP spokeswoman, Ulrike Flach, announced plans to draft concrete legislative proposals later this month. The death of many thousands of people in Germany could not be tolerated "due to insufficient hygiene conditions in Germany". Flach wants to make a strong commitment to founding a new Germany-wide register of infections in clinics. In addition, new guidelines for clinics are to be created to protect people, especially against multidrug-resistant pathogens.

German Medical Association criticizes "scare tactics"
The President of the German Medical Association, Jörg-Dietrich Hoppe, accused the EU Health Commissioner of "alarmism". In his opinion, the published statistics have been known for some time. Long ago, appropriate structures had been set up to get the problem under control. "In Germany, it is not just a firm commitment of physicians to learn from mistakes, we have long since established appropriate structures," said Hoppe. (fp, sb)

Also read:
Risk of infection in the hospital
Sick by hospital germs
Resistant bacteria in German hospitals
The new super germ NDM-1
NDM-1: Do not panic before the super germ

Picture: Günter Havlena