A Westcountry hospital says it is taking a "zero-tolerance" approach to reduce cases of hospital bugs.

Plymouth Hospitals Trust's Derriford Hospital, the region's largest, wants to bring down rates of MRSA and Clostridium Difficile.

Dr Peter Jenks, the trust's director of infection control and prevention, said: "We are adopting a zero tolerance approach to any preventable infection.

"We have a duty to do everything we can to prevent infections and the public have a right to know exactly what steps we are taking and how effective these are."

Infection rates at Plymouth Hospitals Trust have been dramatically reduced over the last five years.

The number of MRSA cases reached 50 in 2007/8 - a 49 per cent drop from the 98 cases recorded in 2003/4.

In the last year alone, the trust has reduced MRSA rates by 25 per cent compared to 2006/7.

The organisation also has one of the lowest rates of Clostridium Difficile in the country.

In 2007/8, the trust reported 187 cases of the bug, down from 212 in the previous year, a fall of 12 per cent.

But the organisation is now introducing a number of new measures to reduce these infections still further.

The trust's aim is to screen all patients admitted to Derriford for routine operations by the end of the year.

According to Plymouth Hospitals Trust, 95 per cent of such patients are already screened for MRSA.

All MRSA infections and serious cases of Clostridium Difficile will now be reviewed by the chief executive and his team.

This will ensure the trust understands how that patient became infected and does everything possible to stop similar cases occurring again.