THE organisers of last weekend's conference in Letterkenny on the superbug MRSA lauded the openness and transparency of all speakers at the two-day conference.

The Donegal branch of MRSA and Families hosted a panel of medical and legal experts at the Silver Tassie Hotel on Friday and Saturday to educate and raise public awareness about the potentially fatal infection.

One of the guest speakers at the conference, Dr Kevin Kellehar, Assistant National Director for Population Health, admitted that MRSA was embedded in every hospital in the country. It could take up to ten years to eradicate.

He acknowledged that hygiene standards in some hospitals were lacking but stressed the HSE's commitment to reducing current infection figures.

BOOST

Conference organiser Rosemary Cassidy said it was a great boost for their group to have it finally admitted publicly that the infection was so commonplace.

"A lot of people over the two days came and talked to us about their experience of MRSA and other hospital contracted infections. There are currently a number of cases being looked at but we have to respect people's confidence.

"We are very grateful for the strong support we received from medical personal from Letterkenny General Hospital, Dr James McDaid TD, Mr Niall Blaney TD, Minister Brian Lenihan and all the local councillors," Ms Cassidy said.

The Donegal branch of MRSA and Families have a very good working relationship with Letterkenny General Hospital and have held meetings with hospital manager Mr Sean Murphy.

Mr Murphy hosted a visit from the guest panel for the conference last Friday afternoon giving the key speakers a view of the situation in LGH.

Ms Cassidy stressed the importance of the working relationship with the hospital and the professionals who work there.

"Hospital Management and ourselves are appealing to people to use the gel provided in hospital wards for everyone to clean their hands. That is how we prevent the spread of these infections.

"If you are a patient or visitor and you see something wrong that could spread infection, don't be afraid to say that you would prefer them to use the gel provided. People should not be afraid to speak. Staff will appreciate you bringing it to their attention," Ms Cassidy added.

REDRESS BOARD DENIED

Delegates at the conference also heard from MRSA and Families legal advisor Ian Simons. Minister of State for health and Children Brian Lenihan has refused to set up a redress board for people who have contracted MRSA or have had loved ones die because of it.

This week's newly formed group for alleged negligence is claiming that the government failed to protect them from exposure to the infection.

The national MRSA and Families group have begun an advocacy programme to assist survivors in building their case against the State.

This actions follows a landmark ruling in Britain in which an 87 years old woman was awarded substantial damages after the hospital in which she contracted the superbug admitted it had ignored infection-control policies.

Mr Simons told delegates at the conference this was not like dealing with army deafness.

"We are talking about people who, as a result of attending Irish hospitals, have been maimed, will not return to work and whose personal relationships have been destroyed because they acquired MRSA in their bloodstreams.

"There has been a system failure. They knew about it and they did nothing to implement their own guidelines. People want answers and litigation is inevitable," Mr Simons added.

FIGURES

According to figures, a person admitted to an Irish hospital has a one in 20 chance of acquiring an infection and a one in 200 chance of coming in contact with MRSA.

In 2005 an estimated 586 MRSA infections were reported - up 33 on the previous year.

Guest speakers at the conference included Junior Minister for Health and Children Brian Lenihan: Andrew Massey, Sligo General Hospital; Kevin Kellehar, Assistant National Director of Population Health; Paul Bergervoet, Infection Control Practitioner from Holland: Dr Mary Hynes, Assistant National Director Quality Risk; Professor Hilary Humphreys, Beaumont Hospital/Royal College of Surgeons; Dr Michael Mulhern, Microbiologist, Letterkenny General Hospital; Ian Simons MRSA legal adviser; Deputy Niall Blaney; MRSA national founding members Margaret Dawson and Tom Kavanagh; Professor Humphreys, Chairperson on the SARI Report which covered the control and prevention of MRSA in hospitals and the community.

With the success of the conference now behind them, Ms Cassidy said they had no intention of going away as long as the MRSA problem remained to be dealt with.

"We need to get the incidence down and it requires everyone's help," Ms Cassidy concluded.