Link: Mrsa Cases Rise
The Royal Free Hospital is the second-worst acute hospital in the country for MRSA infection rates, according to Government figures.
The figures, published on Monday by the Department of Health, revealed that, between April and September 2005, the hospital recorded 51 cases of the potentially lethal superbug, 14 more than over the same period in 2004.
This relates to an MRSA infection rate of 0.39 cases per 1,000 hospital bed days (the number of days a patient occupies a bed).
The figures, which only show cases of the superbug detected in the blood and not all MRSA infections, show that rates tend to be highest in specialist trusts such as the Royal Free.
The hospital treats more vulnerable patients transferred from other hospitals where infections might have been originally contracted.
A Royal Free spokeswoman said the hospital, in Pond Street, Hampstead, accepted it still had work to do to reduce MRSA infections.
