Clostridium difficile toxin testing by national Health Service (NHS) acute Trusts in England: 2008-2013.
Clin Microbiol Infect. 2015 Apr 28;
Authors: Gerver SM, Johnson AP, Hope RJ
Abstract
In October 2007, a governmental three-year target to reduce Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) by 30%, with financial penalties levied for failure, was introduced in England. This target was met within just one year, leading to speculation of "gaming", with hospitals empirically treating possible CDI in the absence of a microbiological diagnosis, in order to avoid having to report confirmed cases. An analysis of aggregate mandatory data on levels of testing for C. difficile toxin showed little evidence of a fall in testing during the steepest infection rate reductions, suggesting this was not a major factor in the decline in CDI.
PMID: 25964154 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]