Kingston Hospital NHS Trust is celebrating after figures published by the Health Protection Agency showed there were no reported incidences of MRSA at the hospital between April and June.

The news comes hot on the heels of the ”Triple Green” score for hygiene following the Healthcare Commission’s recent spot check of the hospital.

Kingston Hospital is the only acute trust in England to have achieved the double header of no MRSA cases and a “Triple Green” score so far this year.

Only 13 other trusts had no MRSA cases reported in the same period.

The trust said the results confirmed the hospital was tackling infection effectively and providing a safe, clean environment for its patients and staff.

Alan Pearse, acting chief executive at Kingston Hospital said: “Infection control is the top priority at the trust. But actions speak louder than words and our excellent results in reducing MRSA down to zero for the quarter, April and June 2008 demonstrate this better than anything.”

Helen Dirilen, director of nursing and quality said: “We are proud to have one of the best records on hygiene and MRSA currently in the country and would like to thank all our staff for their outstanding efforts in helping bring down infection and for providing a clean, safe environment for all our patients.

“We have been working very hard over the past few years to reduce the number of healthcare-acquired Infections. This is an excellent result for the trust and for our patients it is the best possible news.”

Tory parliamentary candidate Helen Whately who criticised the hospital last week for not being more open about £10m of compensation payouts at the trust in recent years, praised the management, said the results should not be seen as exceptional.

She said: "The improvement in hygiene at Kingston Hospital is good news.

"The challenge of infection control should not be underestimated in a busy hospital like Kingston and the staff have clearly worked hard to achieve this.

"It is vital that this is not a one off - high standards of hygiene need to become the rule, not the exception."

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