Reducing Clostridium difficile infection in acute care by using an improvement collaborative.

Problem: In 2006, despite a focus on infection control, Salford Royal had the fourth highest rate of Clostridium difficile infection in north west England.

Design: Interrupted time series in five collaborative wards (intervention group) and 35 non-collaborative wards (control group).

Setting: University teaching hospital with 850 acute beds.

Key Measures For Improvement: Number of cases of C difficile infection per 1000 occupied bed days.

Strategies For Change: In February 2007, a newly formed antimicrobial team led the implementation of revised guidelines in all wards and departments. From March to December 2007, five wards participated in an improvement collaborative. Since December 2007, the changes from the collaborative have been collated and implemented throughout the organisation.

Effects Of Change: At baseline the non-collaborative wards had 1.15 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.29) cases per 1000 occupied bed days. In August 2007 cases reduced 56% from baseline (0.51, 0.44 to 0.60), which has been maintained since that time. In the collaborative wards, there were 2.60 (2.11 to 3.17) cases per 1000 occupied bed days at baseline. A shift occurred in April 2007 representing a reduction of 73% (0.69, 0.50 to 0.91) from baseline, which has been maintained.

Lessons Learnt: Careful use of antimicrobial drugs is important in reducing the number of cases of C difficile infection. A collaborative learning model can enable teams to test and implement changes that can accelerate, amplify, and sustain control of C difficile.