AN anxious wife fears for the health of her husband as he recovers from devastating surgery in the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

Len Justice was forced to have his leg amputated after a minor accident in his garden this summer led to severe complications.

Now his wife believes he is at serious risk from the hospital bug MRSA and has urged staff at the hospital to take action.

"He has been through enough already. It seems clear he is in a ward affected in some way by MRSA" said Margaret Justice.

"I keep asking the staff if he can be moved from Ward 24 but they have told me there are no side wards available."

Mr Justice, 62, of Sopwith Crescent, Merley, was admitted to hospital after he cut his foot on bamboo in his garden.

On September 16 he had three toes and the side of his foot amputated but just five days later his leg was amputated below the knee.

"At first we didn't think it was anything serious and we went to see our doctor" said Mrs Justice, 59. "They put a dressing on Len's foot and we went home again.

"About a week later we saw the nurse and she sent Len straight to hospital. From then things have gone from bad to worse."

Mrs Justice said staff at the Royal Bournemouth are treating Ward 24 as an isolation unit although Len is sharing the six-bed ward with one other man.

"The staff hardly ever come in and when they do they are wearing masks and special aprons" she said. "I am fed up with the way Len is being treated."

Mrs Justice, who travels by bus to visit her husband every day, added: "Len needs to stay in hospital for at least five more weeks so something should be done to protect him from MRSA."

A spokeswoman for the Royal Bournemouth Hospital said that the MRSA infection has not spread to Ward 24 but that one patient is believed to be a possible carrier or at risk.

She said the patient was due to be moved to a side room when one becomes available.

"It is trust policy to move patients who are at risk of infection to a side room, which is an isolated area, as soon as one is available.

"When one is not available, the procedure is to nurse patients at either end of the ward on opposite sides and to treat them in isolation" she added.

"This means that strict hygiene and bed spacing is maintained and no other admissions are taken."

First published: October 17