THE hospital Trust which manages Lister has recorded a significant drop in cases of MRSA and clostridium difficile. In the nine months to December 2007, The East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust recorded 26 MRSA blood infections, compared to 37 for the s

THE hospital Trust which manages Lister has recorded a significant drop in cases of MRSA and clostridium difficile.

In the nine months to December 2007, The East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust recorded 26 MRSA blood infections, compared to 37 for the same period in 2006, marking a 30 per cent reduction across the three hospitals.

For the same period in 2007, the Trust recorded 300 cases of clostridium difficile, compared to 474 for the same period in 2006, marking a 37 per cent reduction.

The Trust's chief executive Nick Carver said: "Our staff have done a really great job in helping us to get infection rates down at our hospitals.

"We have seen a real and sustained drop in the number of MRSA infections, but we're not there yet.

"While no more than three to four cases happen every month at the moment, our next push is to halve this rate over the next few months. It's a big challenge."

Campaigns targeting the importance of hand washing for both staff and visitors, and the opening of two specialist isolation wards - one at Lister and one at the QEII - were launched in the last six months to help combat the superbugs.