National Point Prevalence Survey of Healthcare Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Prescribing 2016

The significant burden of healthcare associated infection (HAI) is affecting one patient in every ward in every hospital across Scotland, according to the 2016 Point Prevalence Survey of HAI and Antimicrobial use. The National Point Prevalence Survey (PPS), indicates that the prevalence of HAI in acute hospitals is 4.5%, significantly lower than five years ago, still represents one in 22 patients at any one time, or 55,500 infections every year. There has also been significant improvement in practice in the prescribing agenda in Scotland in recent years, although antibiotic prescribing in hospitals was found to be significantly higher than five years ago, which has serious implications for the threat of antibiotic resistance. The report demonstrates that healthcare associated infections remain a public health threat across all care settings.

Disclaimer: Documents published before 16 March 2020 were produced by Health Protection Scotland (HPS).