Hospital that angered peer with its 'grubby, drunken and promiscuous nurses' has the most C.diff deaths

A hospital criticised by a Tory peer for its 'grubby, drunken and promiscuous' nurses has the highest number of deaths from superbugs in the country.

The Royal United Hospital in Bath came top of a 'roll call of shame' for large NHS hospitals.

There were 268 deaths which mentioned C. difficile on death certificates at the hospital over a four-year period.

Another 38 patients died from MRSA, giving the hospital the highest combined superbug toll.

The publication of the figures follows criticism of the hospital by Lord Mancroft, who attacked the standards of nurses who treated him last year.

The Conservative peer, who made his comments during a House of Lords debate, said staff at the Royal United were 'grubby, drunken and promiscuous' and the wards were 'filthy and never cleaned'.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics were collected from the 237 hospitals and one hospice where more than 2,500 patients died of any cause between 2002 and 2006.

Bigger hospitals which treat more patients would expect to have more deaths, an ONS spokesman said.

This would result in more mentions of hospital-acquired infections on death certificates. At the George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton, 235 people with C. diff died.

Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry recorded 233 deaths involving C. diff, the Royal Infirmary in Leicester recorded 203, and Kettering General Hospital recorded 200.

Derriford Hospital in Plymouth recorded the highest number of deaths involving MRSA at 94. Next came Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth with 81, Maelor Hospital in Wrexham with 79, Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton with 77 and The Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton with 75.

Deaths from C. diff have soared to record levels. The superbug killed or hastened the deaths of almost 6,500 patients in 2006, according to official figures released in February.

MRSA claimed 1,650 lives in the same year.

Lord Mancroft, who was admitted to the hospital in Bath for the removal of an abscess, said last night that he remained concerned about the level of cleanliness in NHS hospitals.

'I have asked managers why they can't get wards clean and keep them clean,' he said. 'The answers I've had back have left me none the wiser.

'It's been complicated bureaucratic responses about meeting targets and initiatives.

'I'm not a scientist but I can tell if a kitchen or bathroom at least looks clean, it seems to me pretty simple stuff. When there was someone in charge of the ward with authority they could get rid of cleaners if the wards were dirty. It must be the fault of today's managers.'

Grubby: Royal United Hospital, Bath

The peer's comments come after a health chief admitted the much vaunted deep clean of hospitals was little more than a psychological reminder of the dangers of superbugs.

Professor Peter Borriello, an infections expert at the Government funded Health Protection Agency, cast doubt on whether the £50million hygiene blitz would stem the spread of MRSA.

Questioned on whether deep cleaning was helping cut the number of superbug infections, Professor Borriello said it was 'not going to necessarily have a major impact' but was 'a very important psychological reminder' to ensure high standards in hospitals.

Tory health spokesman Andrew Lansley said: 'Almost three times as many people are now killed by hospital infections as are killed on the roads each year.

'It's appalling that the best this government has been able to come up with to tackle this massive problem is Gordon Brown's deep cleaning programme, which even his own advisers said wouldn't make a difference.

'We need better antibiotic prescribing, hygiene and proper isolation facilities in hospitals to stop infections spreading.

'Labour have broken their promises on this and three - quarters of hospitals still lack proper isolation facilities.'