New wards up and running

A NEW ward to help fight infection has opened at Addenbrooke s Hospital, Cambridge. Purpose-built to deal with patients with infectious diseases, N2 has 22 individual rooms. When patients are in enclosed areas, infection can be managed more effectively a

A NEW ward to help fight infection has opened at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.

Purpose-built to deal with patients with infectious diseases, N2 has 22 individual rooms. When patients are in enclosed areas, infection can be managed more effectively and efficiently and that should mean a shorter stay in hospital.

N2 is managed by the infectious diseases team and has just seen its first patients. It replaces an older ward where individual rooms weren't available.

Assistant director of nursing, Angela Thompson, said: "N2 is purpose-built for the effective management of infection and staffed by a specialist team. We have seen dramatic results fighting infection and this ward can only help improve our level of care even further.

"Patients on the ward have infections such as Clostridium difficile. In 2008/2009, we are on target to reduce C difficile by 25 per cent to no more than 300 cases. We have also had success tackling MRSA - we saw a 49 per cent decrease in cases during 2007/8 and anticipate a further 29 per cent reduction in 2008/9."

Results have been achieved thanks to strict hand hygiene procedures for staff, patients and visitors. A high-profile poster campaign around the hospital reinforces the message of keeping hands clean.

Another ward to open recently in N block is N3, a respiratory ward. It has 25 beds, nine of which are side rooms, and a respiratory unit to care for patients who require non-invasive respiratory ventilation.

N2 and N3 have been built off-site and craned into position.