A DISABLED woman who claims she contracted MRSA at Poole hospital has backed calls for hospitals to be held criminally liable if patients catch the superbug.

Rhea Harding, 23, was paralysed from the waist down 13 years ago after having a large tumour removed from her spine.

Earlier this year she became ill with an infection and says she was admitted to hospital with suspected blood poisoning.

When she was discharged, tests showed she had MRSA and Rhea, of Parkstone, complained of "dirty" conditions in her room.

She said: "I wrote to the hospital and was told I hadn't picked up MRSA there.

"They said I must have been infected after I'd gone to Southampton hospital but that's not true. My sores weren't exposed in Southampton.

"I thought about suing but was advised that I would not be able to prove where I'd been infected."

Proving a hospital's criminal liability would be "incredibly difficult," according to an infection control expert at Poole hospital.

Consultant microbiologist Dr Simon Hill, who said he was unaware of Ms Harding's case, described health secretary Patricia Hewitt's warning that hospitals could face criminal court proceedings as "unhelpful".

He said: "We have always had hospital-acquired infections and not all of them are preventable. Unfortunately, even with unlimited resources, MRSA will never go away.

"Department of Health figures published every three months show fluctuating levels of MRSA cases at Poole hospital, ranging from half a dozen to 20. Only a very small number of patients contract MRSA in hospital."

First published: May 21