TVNZ Producer Tests Positive For Superbug

TVNZ Producer Tests Positive For Superbug After Undercover Rest Home Work

TVNZ Producer, Kate McCallum has tested positive for the superbug, MRSA after working undercover as a care giver in an Auckland rest home

Close Up decided to investigate whether the quality of care and monitoring of rest homes had improved following the flurry of undertakings from the health sector after photos were released of a gagged elderly lady last year.

“We sent Kate out to try and get work in a rest home that we had received complaints about, she was taken on without providing a CV or any scrutiny of her background whatsoever”, says Close Up Executive Producer, Mike Valintine.

It wasn’t until Kate concluded her first day of training at the rest home that she discovered that several of the patients she had fed and cared for that day had MRSA.

“Kate wasn’t told to wear gloves or a mask nor was she advised to take rudimentary precautions like washing her hands between patients so after discovering she was exposed to a superbug we immediately had her tested and the results revealed she has MRSA”.

MRSA is described as a superbug because it is a bacterium resistant to treatment with common antibiotics.

TVNZ has been told by medical experts that Kate’s health is very good and she is expected to make a full recovery.

Kate is undergoing treatment for MRSA at the moment and further tests later this week should show that she is clear of the superbug.

“I believe Kate’s health scare shows that a potentially fatal outbreak of a superbug is quite possible and highlights once again an immediate need for the health sector to deliver on promises to improve monitoring”

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