Bristol hospitals are being closely monitored by health officials due to the numbers of people suffering with a superbug.

North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT), which runs Frenchay and Southmead hospitals, has the third highest number of MRSA cases nationally, according to the Health Protection Agency's database.

A visit to the two hospitals from the Department of Health found that some cleaning and clinical practices were up to standard but more needs to be done to reduce the number of people suffering with the infection.

NHS South West – the Government department's regional arm – is now monitoring the health trust with weekly visits to keep a check on its performance.

Acting director of nursing at NBT, Carol de Halle, told the Evening Post there has been an improvement since the visit in January and there were no reports of MRSA within the two hospitals during February.

The hospitals now test patients for MRSA when they are admitted and 48 hours afterwards, which shows that 19 patients out of 29 contracted the infection after they were admitted.

The Department of Health, NHS South West and the local primary care trust interviewed staff and looked at the procedures and plans for infection control at the hospitals.

They also spent time on hospital wards and found "a significant number of dirty commodes" at both Frenchay and Southmead, and issues with the application of certain dressings.

It was noted that more modern training methods could be put in place to help staff understand infection control policies.

Mrs de Halle said: "We just have to keep working at it and can never be complacent.

"Every single organisation will tell you that targets come down all the time and there are so many different ways of approaching the problem."