Trusts will face snap checks for superbugs

Hospitals face snap inspections and improvement orders in the fight to cut death rates from superbugs.

Trusts could also have their performance ranking downgraded if they fail to control outbreaks under the plan from the Health Commission.

Latest figures show deaths involving the Clostridium difficile bug - which can trigger catastrophic infection of the gut in the elderly - shot up by 69 per cent over a year to 3,807 in 2005.

In the same period, the number of MRSA-related deaths rose 39 per cent to 1,629.

Three in every 500 death certificates now cite one of the two hospital bugs as a contributory or main factor.

But official surveys have shown that one in three hospitals flouts guidelines aimed at controlling the spread of C.diff.

Under the Healthcare Commission's plan, an increase in infection rates at a hospital will trigger the inspections and notices under the Hygiene Code, introduced last November.

Katherine Murphy, of the Patients' Association, welcomed the crackdown, saying: "Better control is essential and we want tougher inspections and hospitals to take responsibility."