The daughter of a woman who died after getting the infection says it is important to hold the NHS to account.

Joan Staples was a fit and healthy 73-year-old when she had a hip op

Joan Staples was a fit and healthy 73-year-old when she went in for a routine hip replacement in June 2002.

Everything seemed to go well at Lincolnshire's Pilgrim Hospital but a few weeks after being discharged she had to return to hospital for treatment as the wound was not healing and had become swollen and sore.

By September, Mrs Staples, who had three children and three grandchildren, was still having problems with the wound refusing to heal and the hip replacement was removed.

By the end of October, she was referred to the nearby Skegness Hospital for rehabilitation for a month.

It was here the family suspects the MRSA was contracted, although the NHS trust, which runs both hospitals, has not admitted liability for the infection.

Diagnosed

MRSA was eventually diagnosed in December, but it was not until April that Mrs Staples's condition deteriorated considerably and she was admitted to Pilgrim Hospital for the last time. Within weeks, she had died.

Her daughter, Joanne Baumber, said: "The infection had just ravished her whole body, her collar bone was full of puss, her rib cage had virtually disintegrated. It was awful.

"I was so angry, this should never have happened. She did not have MRSA when she went in and then for months we were not told she had it.

"But it was not just that she got it, the way she was treated was wrong. The wound was left open and the infection spread.

We heard we had won in October and our reaction was 'yes, at least someone is being held to account for this' Joanne Baumber

"We wanted to pursue the case to get justice for our mother. It was not about the money.

"We heard we had won in October and our reaction was 'yes, at least someone is being held to account for this'.

"But no amount of money we get can bring her back."

Like a number of MRSA cases currently working their way through the legal system, Ms Baumber's solicitors used regulations known as Control of Substances Harmful to Health (Coshh) as well as traditional clinical negligence arguments to pursue the claim.

The NHS trust involved, United Lincolnshire Hospitals, never accepted responsibility for Mrs Staples getting the infection or that they were liable under Cossh.

However, it admitted her care was not up to standard and settled the case in October 2006 with an undisclosed compensation offer.

MRSA

Mrs Baumber's solicitor, Sarah Rowland, from Irwin Mitchell, said: "Cases like this are hard to fight because it is hard to say exactly when and where a person got MRSA.

"Having Coshh helped strengthen the case, although we did not rely on it entirely.

"I think we will start to see it used in more cases now, I have another dozen where it will form part of the case. We are hopeful more people will get some justice."

A spokeswoman for the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust said: "The trust has apologised to Joanne Baumber and her family for the failure in the care provided to Mrs Staples and would like to wish Mrs Baumber and her family all the very best in the future."