High hospital occupancy causing spread of bugs HIGH occupancy rates in Scottish hospitals are causing the spread of bugs between patients, doctors have warned. Over-occupancy was said to be one of the main causes of the novovirus spreading There have been calls for more action to combat the "boarding out" of patients The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh said over-occupancy of hospital beds and moving patients between wards was becoming one of the main causes of the winter vomiting bug norovirus spreading. They said more action was needed to combat the "boarding out" of medical patients - moving patients from one ward to another to deal with a shortage of beds in some parts of the hospital. It comes after reports that the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy had seen occupancy rates of up to 124 per cent, while Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was at 101 per cent bed occupancy. In extreme cases, extra beds can be placed in wards to deal with the increase in patients. Experts believe that occupancy over 85 per cent can affect patient care. An audit of hand-washing among NHS staff yesterday revealed that doctors had lower levels of hand hygiene than other workers. The Health Protection Scotland showed nurses had compliance rates of 96 per cent, allied health professionals at 98 per cent and other hospital staff at 95 per cent. But medical staff - which includes doctors, consultants and surgeons - only had an 88 per cent compliance rate. Neil Dewhurst, RCPE president, said it was essential that all medical staff had good hand hygiene to reduce the spread of infections. But he added: "This must not be allowed to detract from the fact that it is increasingly being recognised that high levels of bed occupancy and over-capacity, involving the boarding out of medical patients to other wards due to bed shortages, is becoming one of the main causes of the spread of norovirus in hospitals. The NHS in Scotland continues to experience high levels of bed occupancy and boarding with reports in the last week of 124 per cent bed occupancy in Fife and 101 per cent in Lothian, while it is recognised that occupancy above 85 per cent can cause critical problems for patient care. Scottish Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said doctors should be setting an example with handwashing. He said: "Instead, they are the least likely to wash their hands, and that is increasing the risk of infection spreading. These statistics are now getting worse, and if it's the case that senior medical staff simply feel they are above the rules, that attitude has to be weeded out.