Above are just two of numerous newspaper headlines from the media in Ireland in recent times.  The topic of Hospital Infection is all too familiar to us and never far from the news.  While "Hospital Infections" are not a new phenomonen, the levels of these types of infection are.  The numbers have risen dramatically in recent years.  It is estimated that in Ireland one in ten of us will develop a hospital infection following admission to a healthcare facility.

The effects of HCAIs are felt across the spectrum from the individual to the state. At the patient level it results death and serious illness, for the health services it creates enormous operational issues while having massive cost implications for a country's health budgets.