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 - 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 comes as two more hospitals were hit by other deadly 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.

When the MRSA scandal came to light Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson ordered "complacent" hospitals to provide true statistics to end the "fog of ignorance".

A report from MPs found that one in 11 patients picks up an infection in hospital.

Patients' Association spokeswoman Katherine Murphy said: "No-one knows if the MRSA figures are true and accurate already, so this just adds to the sense of confusion."

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