Italy orders investigation into hospitals after hygiene and security scandal

Italy's health minister has ordered a countrywide investigation after a magazine alleged breaches of hygiene and security regulations at the largest public hospital.

The Italian health ministry has confirmed that it is taking the allegations seriously.

It ordered agents from a special "health" division of the military police to carry out an investigation into hospitals throughout Italy, to ascertain how many health and safety regulations are being breached in public hospitals.

Italy's health minister, Livia Turco, says she will assess the results along with the prime minister Romano Prodi and the president of the committee representing regional administrations in Italy.

A reporter from the current affairs weekly magazine L'Espresso worked for a month undercover as a cleaner at Rome's Policlinico Umberto I in Rome, Europe's largest hospital with 1,300 beds, 52 oper-ating theatres and 47 research laboratories.

The article said that 6.7% of inpatients at Italian hospitals contracted infections in 2005 and further claimed that 15.7% of inpatients at Policlinico Umberto I contracted infections.

In response, the Italian health ministry said that although the allegations do not reflect the situation in most Italian hospitals, they showed the need for immediate and effective action to prevent hospital infections and tighten security procedures.

The ministry stressed that hospital infections in Italy are in line with those found elsewhere in Europe.

On average between 4.5%-7% of inpatients contract hospital infections. In Germany the figure is 3.6% in Germany while in Switzerland it is 13%.

The ministry also pointed out that only 30% of hospital infections could be avoided by better hygiene. Most infections are as a result of clinical conditions or bacteria that has become resistant to antibiotics, the ministry said.