Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) has been struck by more superbug infections than any other hospital in Scotland, a survey by The Sunday Times has revealed.

The GRI reported 576 cases in the past year in which patients were carrying or infected with potentially deadly MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C.diff).

Between April 2007 and March 2008, the hospital recorded 374 cases of the antibiotic-resistant organism MRSA and 202 cases of C.diff. Both bugs have been linked to dirty wards and poor hygiene.

Staff at Stirling Royal Infirmary logged 556 cases, including 386 patients with MRSA and 170 with C diff.

The Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (ERI) reported 518 cases, Glasgow’s Southern General and Victoria hospitals recorded 467 and 442 respectively, while Raigmore in Inverness reported 417.

The figures, obtained by The Sunday Times under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that a total of more than 8,400 hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) were logged by Scottish hospitals over the same period.

They included 4,600 cases of C.diff, which is directly responsible for the deaths of about 160 people in Scotland every year. Fifty-five patients were infected and 18 died during the recent outbreak of the bug at the Vale of Leven Hospital, Dunbartonshire.

In addition, there were 3,700 cases in hospitals of MRSA, which is responsible for more than 50 deaths a year.

Hospitals also reported more than 100 outbreaks of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, a recently-discovered, highly virulent microbe that resists all antibiotics.

“It’s a staggering amount of infection,” said Mary Scanlon, health spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives. “Despite successive government attempts, these infections have been resistant and we need to investigate why.”

Scotland currently has the highest rate of hospital-acquired infections in Britain, with almost one in 10 patients affected. In 2006, HAIs contributed to 422 deaths north of the Border, a rise of 5% compared with 2005.

Greater Glasgow, Lothian, Forth Valley and Highland health boards said they had implemented procedures to tackle the spread of the bugs and had reduced the number of infections. Lothian added that some of its wards were used to treat HAI cases from other areas.

A spokeswoman for Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board said driving down infections was one of its highest priorities and measures to tackle HAIs were achieving results.

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