HOSPITAL bosses in Bolton are starting to win the fight against a dangerous superbug.

Royal Bolton chiefs are celebrating the “magnificent” news that no patients were infected with Clostridium difficile Toxin in the hospital in the whole of September.

Governors at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, were given the update last week.

The organisation faced huge fines and an independent investigation in 2013 after it failed to control the spread of the virus in wards.

David Wakefield, chairman of Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, told the committee he was delighted to see a fall in the number of infections.

He said: “The news there is less C Difficile incidents is just magnificent. For those of us who were here two years ago, we were reporting 20 to 30 incidents every month.

“To see that number reduced is fantastic. Well done to everyone.”

In November last year the Trust had already reported 27 cases of the bug since April against an annual “target” of just 28. And once it reached 28, the Trust was told it would be fined £50,000 for every new case recorded until March.

To tackle the problem, infection control expert Martin Kiernan was appointed by the NHS Commissioning Board Greater Manchester Area Team to go into the hospital to see why it is continuing to fail national targets. And Director of nursing, Trish Armstrong-Child, was appointed permanently and initiated a £290,000 plan to tackle the issue.

Other work to stop the spread of the bug included reviewing antibiotic prescriptions across Bolton to make sure policies were consistent and encouraging staff to share infection prevention and control messages with patients, visitors and employees.

In recent months the number of cases has been falling to the delight of the hospital.

* Clostridium difficile Toxin is a bacterial infection that affects the digestive system and causes diarrhoea, high temperatures and painful abdominal cramps