RATES of a deadly superbug at the Royal Bolton Hospital have risen.

Government inspectors have carried out a survey of hospitals across the country and issued a stark warning to NHS Trusts not following Whitehall guidelines which set out how to deal with the problem of Clostridium difficile infections.

The number of cases of the bug, which causes diarrhoea and can lead to serious infections and even death, rose from 226 between January and October 2004 to 280 in the equivalent peroid this year. In October, there were 12 cases.

Health chiefs in Bolton say there is a "rigorous" handwashing programme, a high profile poster campaign, hand cleaning gel and a designated cleaner on each ward.

Visitors are also asked not to sit on patient beds in a bid to reduce the introduction of the infection into the hospital.

Despite the increase, head of communications at the Royal Bolton Hospital, Heather Edwards, said strict procedures were in place to help prevent the superbug spread.

She said: "Hospital acquired infection is something we take very seriously. All staff are aware of the importance of stopping the spread of infection.

"Even when the Bolton Wanderers team came into the children's ward we asked them to make sure they had washed their hands. We report to our Trust board meeting every month."

According to the report, which has been published by the Health Protection Agency and the Healthcare Commission, a third of English hospitals do not follow government guidelines. As a result, there were 44,000 cases reported in the last 12 months.

Head of operational development at the Healthcare Commission, Marcia Fry, said: "It is deeply worrying that a significant number of trusts are not managing to implement existing guidance on Clostridium difficile.

"We recognise these outbreaks are not easy to control, but trusts must do more to ensure they have systems in place to protect patients from this potentially lethal infection."