IMPROVEMENTS in care and treatment of Gwent patients during a Wales-wide project have saved lives and will continue to save lives, says the area's health chief.

The two-year 1,000 Lives campaign aimed to save 1,000 lives and avoid up to 50,000 episodes of harm to patients when launched in April 2008.

Figures for the first 18 months indicate the campaign is set to meet that target, but though it is formally being discontinued, a new initiative called 1,000 Lives Plus will seek to build on its achievements.

Andrew Goodall, chief executive of Aneurin Bevan Health Board, is confident Gwent patients will continue to benefit from improvements introduced in the area's hospitals.

"The 1000 Lives Campaign has delivered so many successful initiatives during the past two years, that are saving lives now and will save many more in the future," he said.

"It has enabled staff to change working practices to provide safer healthcare to our patients and has improved not only patient outcomes, but their experience during their time in hospital."

Improvements in critical care, reducing infections, and in managing medicines are among the plusses of the campaign in Gwent hospitals.

Improved hand hygiene practices and more responsible antibiotic prescribing has helped cut healthcare associated infections.

C.Difficile cases fell by 30.7 per cent in the Royal Gwent Hospital and 26 per cent in the health board overall, during April-December last year, compared to the same period in 2008.

For the last six months of 2009, there were 91 such cases at the Royal Gwent.

The rate of MRSA cases in Gwent hospitals fell to five per 100,000 bed days for the most recent quarter.

Over the last year the rate has been between five and seven, against a Welsh average of six-eight.

An estimated 852 additional lives were saved in the campaign's first 18 months, to the end of last September.

This is the mid-point of a range calculated using a series of figures such as hospital death rates, and expected numbers of deaths in acute hospitals.

It is also estimated that more than 29,000 episodes of harm were avoided during the campaign's first year.

IMPROVEMENTS linked to 1,000 Lives in Gwent include:

• A reduction in hospitalised patients developing blood clots, through the use of a new risk assessment checklist;

• A significant reduction in central line infections in critical care, with only four cases since October 2007;

• A reduction in the number of ventilator-acquired pneumonia cases, with just two recorded in Nevill Hall since June 2008, and two in the Royal Gwent since November 2007;

• Improved treatment for patients with chronic heart failure, with 49 GP practices providing enhanced services in areas such as diagnsis, medication and lifestyle advice.

• Nevill Hall Hospital being one of the first in Wales to pilot a new surgical safety checklist in its operating theatres.