Hospital bosses have been making changes to stem a growing number of cases of a highly contagious superbug.

There have been 27 reported incidents of clostridium difficile in patients at hospitals in Worthing and Chichester since the beginning of April.

This is already more than half of the Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust target of no more than 46 cases between April and the end of March.

A report to the trust board said 13 cases had been recorded in April, followed by five in May and seven in June.

C.diff causes diarrhoea and colitis, an infection of the intestines. The bacteria multiplies when antibiotics disturb the natural balance of the body.

Elderly patients and those in intensive care tend to be more vulnerable to the disease as they are the ones who are most often on antibiotics.

Trust bosses have changed their rules on prescribing antibiotics to try to help bring numbers down and wards at both hospitals are being deep cleaned.

Director of nursing and patient safety, Cathy Stone, said the situation had improved since the beginning of last month.

She said: “By the end of July we had gone 25 consecutive days without any cases of hospital-acquired clostridium difficile at any of our hospitals.

“We are all acutely aware that this is not a problem which will suddenly go away, but that is a tremendously encouraging sign that all of the hard work being put in by staff is beginning to have an impact.

“Although we did not breach our limit for C.diff last year, we will do whatever is necessary to prevent any avoidable cases - simply hitting targets is not enough to protect patients.

“We have introduced new prescribing guidelines for antibiotics, new systems for deep cleaning patient areas, and new advice for staff to ensure the appropriate involvement of our infection control specialists.

“We believe that these measures will help to keep patients safe, and thanks to the efforts of our staff the evidence of recent weeks is positive.”

*The trust's record on patients developing MRSA continues to be good, with just one reported case reported in the last two years.

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