THE Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Trust is one of the worst in the country for superbugs and serious infections.

The Countess comes 87th out of 110 hospitals for its MRSA infection rates according to data from the Department of Health and the Health Protection Agency.

The data reveals that reports of the superbug MRSA have increased by 3.6% in England over the last year.

Although the number of cases of MRSA at the Countess between April 2003 and March 2004 was less than the previous year - 32 compared to 39 - it is at the bottom end of the league table published this week.

The Health Protection Agency ranked all NHS trusts according to the rates of MRSA per 1,000 bed days. In the category of general acute trusts, the Countess had a rate of 0.21. The rates for the worst trust, North Middlesex, was 0.33 and the best trust, Hereford Hospitals, was 0.04.

In a statement the Countess said: 'The trust is working hard to continue to bring down MRSA levels through a range of measures and actions to prevent such infections as much as possible.

'These include:

Policies and procedures to deal with the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infection

Organism surveillance programmes (including MRSA, TB, meningitis)

Surgical site infection surveillance which involves the monitoring of patients who have undergone major joint surgery such as a hip replacement

In-depth infection control audit programme

An extensive infection control educational programme for hospital staff

A link nurse programme involving infection control lead nurses on each ward

Alcohol gel dispensers are available at every bed

A Hand Hygiene group, led by the matrons, is very actively and successfully promoting good hand hygiene practice across the hospital.

Hospital cleanliness is also one of the key standards that the Trust is measured against in order to achieve 3-star status and we have consistently achieved the Patient Environmental Action Team (PEAT) top level 4 standard.'

The statement concluded: 'It should also be noted that the figures submitted by the trust include people who acquired MRSA in the community before they were admitted to the Countess of Chester Hospital. The figures, therefore, are not just hospital-acquired infections.'

Countess of Chester spokeswoman Lorna Jones added that one of the most successful workshops at last weekend's hospital open day was the one run by infection control nurses to promote good hand hygiene.