13% OF HOSPITALS IN MRSA COVER-UP

MORE than one in 10 hospitals have hidden their true total of deadly superbug MRSA cases to "improve" their place in the table of shame.

Of Britain's 173 NHS acute trusts, 23 - or 13 per cent - have misled the Government about how bad the crisis was for four years. They gave false figures of infections by ignoring patients who caught the killer bug before entering their hospitals.

The revelation came as two more hospitals were hit by other superbugs. At London's Kings College Hospital, it was found that 600 patients had multi-resistant acinetobacter (MRAB) over three years. And at Oldchurch Hospital, Romford, Essex, one patient died and 10 were infected with clostridium difficile.

Ministers visiting the sick in hospital have been told by health bosses in the Western Isles that they must wash their hands to prevent the spread of bugs such as MRSA.

The rule is part of a new code of conduct for religious representatives which will also ensure that patients do not receive a religious visit unless they specifically request one.

A spokesman for Western Isles NHS Board said: "It is now specified that visits by religious and faith representatives are at the discretion of the nursing staff."

The Rev Chris Levison, Scotland's national healthcare chaplaincy training and development officer, called the code "a very good thing".

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