Baron Mogg of East Park and OFGEM Chairman forced to retire

The Office for National Statistics , now more accurately and carefully collected , show recorded deaths in Sussex as a result of Clostridium difficile - 214 people died in 2007/8 up a staggering 49% from, 140 in the previous year.

(See Health Protection Agency (HPA) re Guidelines for interpreting these accelerated publication figures) C. difficile was mentioned on 8,324 death certificates last year in t5he UK compared with 6,480 in 2006 and 3,757 in 2005 – an increase of 28% in the last year alone. That is 670 preventable deaths per month - 2 full Jumbo jets crashing or 2.5 times the deaths on UK roads.

Brighton's prestigious Royal Sussex County Hospital hit the couuntry's Top Ten with 79 deaths in 2007/8 ,up 84% on the 34 deaths in 2006/7. They show on their website that the MRSA infection rate is 3.51 infections for every 10,000 bed days

Chichester's St Richard's Hospital saw deaths rise 200% from from 19 to 57 and Haywards Heath , Princess Royal Hospital deaths rose from 50% 9 to 14. They cover 210,000 patients with double the national average of people over the age of 65 (24%) and those over 80 years (8%).

Eastbourne District General Hospital (14 deaths both years) and Southlands Hospital in Shoreham (7 deaths both years) were unchanged. Consult private Care charges at Eastbourne General here . The Warren Browne Sexual care Clinic at Southlands sees around 9,000 patients a year and has recently extended it's openings to weekends to cope with local requirments.

Worthing Hospital (32 down to 22) and Conquest Hospital in St Leonards (25 down to 21) saw modest declines. where deaths fell from 25 to 21. Worthing's Mayor will open the refurbished £360,000 (with £50,000 from the League of friends.) High Dependency Unit tomorrow

The HPA summary says that nationally there was a 9% decrease in reported infections o Clostridium difficile in 2007 compared to 2006, with a decrease in rate from 2.5 to 2.3 cases per 1000 bed days. A rule of thumb currently applied in the UK is that about 1 in 10 of over 65's with C diff infection dies.

The recently ennobled Brighton resident Baron Mogg of East Park, OAP , is now swelling the ranks of the over 65's on the South Coast. He has been the worthless (but very highly paid) Chairman for years and years of the toothless, useless OFgem (Protecting energy consumer interests). Let's hope he will have no need of any of these facilities when his forced retirement is announced at the same time as the OFgem "urgent" report/ review into the rapacious and out of control UK energy industry is introduced shortly. "