NEW figures have revealed that the regions hospitals are among the worst in the country for cases of the killer bug MRSA.At Ipswich Hospital, there was only one fewer case in 2004/05 than in 2003/4, despite them introducing a range of new infection control procedures.

NEW figures have revealed that the regions hospitals are among the worst in the country for cases of the killer bug MRSA.

At Ipswich Hospital, there was only one fewer case in 2004/05 than in 2003/4, despite them introducing a range of new infection control procedures.

The figures, released by the Department of Health, show there were 51 cases of MRSA bloodstream infections diagnosed at the hospital between April 2004 and March 2005. In the previous year there were 52.

Jan Rowsell, hospital spokeswoman, said: "It is a vital priority for us to reduce all hospital acquired infections but the reality is we are seeing more people through our doors than ever.

"The incidence of MRSA is rising in the community too and this explains, in part, why the figures have not gone down."

She added: "This does not detract from our determination to do everything we can to reduce these infections.

"We are confident the figures can be reduced significantly in a year's time.

"We're continually taking action to limit the risk of infections to patients and are very pleased with the response from our community, who are all using the hand washes before entering or leaving the wards."

The current figures place the hospital at 131st in the country with an MRSA ranking of 0.201 cases per bed day. A bed day is defined as person in hospital for one night.

The hospital hit the headlines earlier this year when baby Luke Day died from MRSA just 36 hours after he was born there.

Department of Health figures show that the region's other major hospital trusts –West Suffolk and James Paget – are in the bottom 42 of the MRSA table.

Nationally, the number of MRSA cases fell by 6.1pc in 2004-5 compared with 2003/04 – a drop of 472 cases to 7,212.