AN INFECTION control expert has told how her team is tackling superbugs and viruses at East Lancashire's hospitals.

Beverley Aspin, lead infection prevention and control matron, heads a team of five staff, including two MRSA specialist nurses and two trainees.

Around three per cent of the trust's elective patients and five per cent of emergency admissions test positive for harmful bacteria.

The team has implemented measures including the swab-testing of all patients coming in for elective surgery.

It advises these patients how to minimise the risk of carrying infections before they visit the hospital.

And a new system where all emergency patients are screened before admission should be in place by 2011.

Beverley said: “We go to the assessment unit every day to see who has come in. We're looking for alert conditions, such as diarrhoea, vomiting, anybody with risk or flu like symptoms, anything that could potentially be infections and making sure they are being monitored.

“We give advice and can get macrobiologists to advise doctors on the appropriate treatment.

“It's about spotting infections early and getting the staff to do it too, so we don’t have to close a ward.”

Once a bug is identified the team can take measures such as sectioning off part of a ward, stopping new admissions, suspending relatives’ visits or halting the discharge of patients back to places like residential homes to prevent the spread of a virus until the patient has not shown symptoms for 48 hours.

A new isolation discharge team made up of domestic staff will then perform a deep clean of the ward and all equipment, including all bedding and curtains.

The team is consulted by architects and management on new developments and refurbishments, such as the £900,000 birthing centre to be built off Park Lee Road.

Beverley added: “We will look at plans and say ‘what are you doing about storage of equipment, waste disposal and sinks?’ If you don't put enough sinks in an area people won’t wash their hands and if there isn’t enough space between beds or enough storage cleaners can’t do their job and clutter builds up where micro-organisms can hide.

“If you could see micro-organisms I would be out of a job."