What is MRSA?

It’s a bacterium which is resistant to many antibiotics and can be difficult to treat. Often the bacteria infect open wounds causing a delay in healing.

Sometimes the wound doesn’t heal and other procedures have to be used to make the wound heal.

Sometimes the bacteria can get into the blood causing a very serious infection.

Now often when you go into hospital they will swab you to see if you have MRSA. This is generally treated before you can have the operation.

When a claim may be possible

Here are some types of problems where a claim for compensation could be considered:-

You go into hospital and have a knee or hip replacement. It doesn’t heal and the wound oozes. You are told that you have MRSA. You may have to undergo further surgery to remove the infection. You have to stay in hospital longer and you don’t feel well for weeks or even months.

You go into hospital and have drips or catheters or feeding tubes inserted. You don’t feel well and you are told that you have a MRSA infection. You have to stay in hospital longer whilst they treat the infection.

You go into hospital for an operation on your ankle. You are told that the operation was a success and you go home. A few days after your discharge you or the district nurse notices that the wound doesn’t look too good. Swabs of the wound are taken and it shows that you have MRSA. You may have to go back to hospital and have another operation or you have to back to hospital and have antibiotic treatment.

What is C.diff?

Its proper name is Clostridium difficle. It is a normal inhabitant of the gut where it lives happily in low numbers with all the other organisms in the gut. Their presence keeps the numbers of C.diff in check so no problems arise. However things can go wrong when you go into hospital. C.diff infections can be fatal particularly for the elderly.

You go into hospital and you a receive strong antibiotic, generally from antibiotics given intravenously. C.diff multiplies because the other gut organisms are reduced due the action of the antibiotic.

You start to feel unwell have pain in the stomach and chronic diarrhoea develops. If left untreated or there is a delay in treatment you can become seriously ill.

You go into hospital and you do not receive strong antibiotic treatment. After a few or several days you start to feel unwell, your stomach hurts and you have chronic diarrhoea. You become seriously ill. This happens because C.diff produces very resistant spores which survive on the hospital ward and you have become infected. It’s not your own c.diff, it’s the hospital’s.

Call us today to to discuss whether you can make a claim if you or a family member or friend have been affected by a hospital acquired infection.

Please do not hesitate to contact either Liz or Sue on

Freephone 0800 037 5817

or via our dedicated e-mail address:

hospitalclaims@recompense.co.uk