Warning over surge in terrifying bug that kills up to one in five people it infects – ‘corridor care’ in NHS hospitals is to blame

Cases of a potentially killer infection that can spread rampantly in hospitals have surged by a third in a year, health officials have warned. 

Clostridioides difficile, commonly referred to as C. diff, is a highly contagious bacteria that causes diarrhoea.

While mild for most people it can trigger life-threatening complications and kills up to one in five patients that fall ill with it. 

Now, in a report, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said the number of cases seen in 2023-24 was 29.5 per 100,000 people.

This is a 33 per cent rise since 2020-21 and the highest level seen in over a decade, the body said.  

C. diff is considered to be the leading cause of healthcare-associated infections, those that happen when a patient is in hospital.

The bug, which initially infects the bowel, is highly resistant to both heat and most disinfectant products. 

According to the new UKHSA report, the overwhelmed NHS could be to blame for the worrying surge.

The agency said corridor care — the practice of caring for patients in hallways amid a lack of available beds — could be leading to overwhelmed staff not following infection prevention control (IPC) methods. 

‘As corridor-care occurs when the system is under pressure, it is reasonable to assume difficulties with IPC compliance, not only due to stretched healthcare workers but also because, the tools for IPC, such as hand-wash basins, will not be as readily accessible in a non-clinical area,’ they wrote. 

‘Further, cleaning standards for non-clinical areas (such as corridors) are less thorough than for clinical areas.’ 

This, combined with the crowded nature of A&Es, could make such areas a potential source of C. diff infections.

The agency added the role of corridor care in the rise of C. diff was currently the subject of research.

Corridor care has now become so routine in parts of the NHS that some hospitals are now recruiting dedicated ‘corridor medics’ to staff these areas. 

And a damming report by the Royal College of Physicians earlier this year found four in five hospital medics had been forced to treat patients in ‘unsuitable’ public spaces. 

One doctor said a patient had died due to being positioned too far away from life-saving equipment. 

The latest NHS data, covering March, shows one in three A&E patients in England was forced to wait at least four hours to be seen. 

Estimates from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine suggest more than 1.5million patients were forced to wait 12 hours for care in 2023. 

UKHSA added that the massive increase in waiting lists for treatment post-Covid pandemic could also be contributing to the rise. 

As of the end of the last year the number of patients waiting for routine care in England was 7.5million.

While this was a decrease from a peak of 7.7million in September 2023, it is still one-and-a-half times higher than in 2020.

UKHSA said patients waiting for long periods for treatment are more likely to need antibiotics and this could be leaving them vulnerable to C. diff.

Antibiotics can cause an imbalance in the bacteria that normally live in the bowel,  increasing the risk of a C. diff infection. 

The bug becomes life threatening if the bacteria infect other parts of the body outside the bowel.

This can trigger sepsis, a life-threatening over-reaction from the immune system to an infection. 

Another potential complication is the bacteria spilling into other areas of the abdomen causing a potentially deadly infection called peritonitis.

The latest data from UKHSA showed fatality rates for C. diff were highest among the over 85s at nearly 20 per cent. 

Fatality rates decreased with age with patients between 45-to-64 years of age only have a 5 per cent chance of dying. 

‘Not only have rates [of C.diff] increased year on year from 2020, but the rate of change over time is accelerating,’ UKHSA wrote. 

The body added that while hospitals accounted for the greatest source of C. diff infections, cases had also increased seen in the community. 

C. diff is spread by spores in infected patients’ faeces that can survive for an extremely long time in the environment.

This allows them to be spread by people who have been in contact with infected patients or contaminated surfaces. 

Symptoms of a C. diff infection include diarrhoea, a high temperature, loss of appetite, nausea and stomach pain. 

People who have had diarrhoea and recently taken antibiotics, have any bloody diarrhoea or have had diarrhoea for a week or more should contact NHS 111 or their GP for advice.