Hospitals ban Christmas decorations because of superbug epidemic

The slightly battered, fake tree in the corner, bedecked with a few threadbare stands of tinsel, may not be much - but it's all you've got to remind you it's Christmas.

This year, however, thousands of patients will be denied even that small helping of seasonal cheer as decorations are banned from wards because of the superbug epidemic.

The ban has so far been introduced by two health trusts, meaning patients at 12 hospitals face wards without tinsel, baubles or holly.

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Health chiefs fear dusty decorations brought out every year could make wards less clean and expose patients to possible infection by MRSA or C. difficile.

The Government has not ordered a ban but it has urged trusts to take every step to eradicate the bugs, which have claimed hundreds of lives.

The first to bring in the decoration ban was the Northumbria Healthcare Trust, which manages ten hospitals across the North East.

It was forced to call in a Government clean-up squad after missing targets to reduce MRSA for three years in a row.

C. diff cases have rocketed by more than a third in the region's hospitals.

A spokeswoman said: 'We have stopped having decorations in clinical areas. They gather dust and make it harder to keep the areas clean. However, there will be decorations and fairy lights in main entrances and non-clinical areas such as dayrooms.'

Its lead was followed by the Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare Trust which has imposed a ban at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester and the Andover War Memorial Hospital.

In previous years, nurses at the RHCH competed to provide the 'best-dressed' ward at Christmas. One was even turned into a Victorian street scene.

However, the hospital has also missed its target for reducing MRSA and there were 191 cases of C. diff between April 2006 and March 2007.

Trust chief executive Martin Wakeley said: 'This isn't about cancelling Christmas, it's about banishing the bugs. The best we can do for our patients is for them to go home feeling better.'

The Department of Health said the Government had not ordered a ban on decorations, adding: 'It is up to individual trusts.'