As a health watchdog prepares to publish the latest superbug infection rates, a patient group is calling for more action to stamp out the killer bacteria.
The Patients Association today called for all patients to be screened and infection control budgets protected.
Previous figures showed killer bug Clostridium difficile (C diff) is on the rise in England, while MRSA is falling - but not quickly enough to meet the government's target.
In recent years West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust has worked to reduce the incident of MRSA and C diff, however there have still be many complaints about hygiene at the hospital.
Patients Association spokeswoman Katherine Murphy said: "Too many people are dying from these infections. We must learn from other countries such as Holland which have got infection rates close to zero.
"That is what we should be aiming for. We need to make NHS chief executives more accountable and ring-fence infection control budgets as it is to easy to raid them when there are cuts."
The C diff rate rose by 5.5 per cent in England during the first three quarters of 2006 to 42,625 and the MRSA rate fell by five per cent to 3,391.
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