343: English hospitals clean up

Reassuring news for all hospital patients in the UK today, as the English National Health Service (NHS) released statistics on the cleanliness of its wards. As today's linked article from the UK's Guardian newspaper reports, the NHS has struggled with a large number of cases of MRSA and another 'superbug' called C difficile acquired in hospital. To tackle the problem, huge sums of money were invested in cleaning wards from top to bottom and ensuring staff practice impeccable hygiene. The result? MRSA cases have dropped by a third in the past year, and other superbugs are on the retreat too. Quite some success. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown also thought so - apparently he's written to NHS staff congratulating them. As annual appraisals go, that's probably as good as it gets...