STAFFORDSHIRE’S main hospital has passed its second successive month without a single case of MRSA.

The achievement  gives it its best performance since figures started being collected on the menace in the mid-1990s.

It means 73 days have elapsed since the University Hospital of North Staffordshire treated its last patient for the superbug.

And, to allay any fears of people needing an operation, it is six months since the last case was seen in its surgical division – traditionally a high risk area as it contains so many patients with open wounds which can be invaded by the bug.

Now, the hospital’s directors have taken issue with the Government’s Health Protection Agency for issuing the public with old figures dating back to when the trust’s record was far worse.

They fear the inaccurate data on the agency’s telephone helpline and website could drive patients to opt for treatment at other hospitals where there are actually more cases of MRSA.

Lay director Kevin Fox said: “Here we have a good news story for this hospital but the Department of Health itself is turning it into a bad one. We need to ask them to put this right urgently.”

Officials said the agency had been contacted and the information it gives was to be updated.

The breakthrough has come from a combination of measures such as hammering home the message to staff to wash hands frequently and the public to use gel dispensers on each ward; screening of all emergency patients for the superbug; and the recruitment of extra cleaners.

Medical director Robert Courteney-Harris said Keele University’s medical school was now teaching infection control to fifth year students.  in a bid to instil safe clinical practice into doctors of the future.

He said: “There would have been no chance of that happening 10 years ago and that is a sign of how far we have come.”

Chairman Mike Brereton said: “Hospital infection is a big concern among the local population so our staff deserve huge congratulations for this record. Infection control is now at the forefront of people’s minds at every level in every department.”

Health campaigning group North Staffordshire Healthwatch said the improvement was “taking the fear out of going into our hospital.”

Co-ordinator Ian Syme said: “It has gone from one of the dirtiest hospitals in the country to one of the cleanest. And we can verify that these figures are accurate.  and have not been fiddled.

“For years the public had been told that MRSA at the hospital was part of the ageing fabric and nothing more could be done.

“But under the leadership of Julia Bridgewater (chief executive) and her teams, they have refused to accept that and proved you can resolve issues if you put enough effort in.

“This news is excellent and all the staff deserve praise but the trust cannot afford to drop its guard.”  and let things slip back.”

Are you happy the hospital is doing enough to combat superbugs?