Cinderella service to health service priority: infection control in the UK.

Reducing the morbidity, mortality and economic burden of healthcare-associated infection has become an NHS priority. However, this has not always been the case. The problems associated with hospital infection have been well known for some considerable time but historically the topic has been afforded scant resources, and relegated to 'Cinderella' status. This began to change when seminal epidemiological studies of the 1970s and 1980s identified the scale of the problem, and accelerated when adjustments to the management of the NHS throughout the 1990s encouraged Trusts to reposition infection control among their priorities. Since the turn of the century, infection control has become increasingly politicized and regulated. There are some suggestions that standards are improving and rates of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile are falling. Whether or not Trusts are capable of bringing about change through a process of self-regulation, or whether meaningful change will inevitably require regulation and enforcement from outside agencies is an interesting point.