The Tories have accused Labour of "complacency" over MRSA

If targets like those for waiting times were to blame, there would be a link between high MRSA levels and hospitals which met their targets, he said.

But Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley accused the government of "utter complacency" over the problem.

The Liberal Democrats claim a target-driven NHS is failing patients.

QUICK GUIDE What is MRSA?

Mr Reid was speaking as a summit on ways to combat MRSA was due to begin.

"Those who say it's about government targets are the same as those who say its all about dirty hospitals," he said.

"It isn't just about dirty hospitals. In some of our clean hospitals - which get good clean ratings - there is still a spread of MRSA."

Thousands of people who visited hospitals were carrying bugs and always had done, he said, it was just a growing proportion had become resistant to antibiotics.

Mr Reid pointed out that resistance had increased to 31% from 4% in the five years before Labour came to power.

I could give you an enormous list of the things that were recommended to be done by the National Audit Office report five years ago that haven't been done Andrew Lansley Shadow health secretary

But Mr Lansley said the problem had been ignored in Labour's manifesto, published on Wednesday, in which, he said, there was nothing related to infection control or hospital cleanliness.

"I could give you an enormous list of the things that were recommended to be done by the National Audit Office report five years ago that haven't been done."

There was no national infection control manual, bed occupancy rates had not been brought down to 82%, there was a lack of consistent advice on hand washing and a lack of investment in isolation facilities, he said.

Mr Lansley also refuted suggestions that the time to tackle MRSA was in the early 1990s when the Conservatives were in power, accusing the government of continued complacency.

Hygiene regime

But Mr Reid defended the government's record on tackling MRSA and said it was wrong to make the issue a party political one.

Actress Leslie Ash had to learn to walk again after her illness

He said he had brought in 23 initiatives to tackle the problem, including "bringing back matron", outlawing cheap cleaning contacts and involving frontline nurses in drawing up new cleaning contracts.

A new hand washing and hygiene regime had also been introduced, he said.

But Mr Reid also pledged to implement any useful suggestions which emerged from the Clean Hospitals Summit organised by the Patients Association.

"I will make sure these are done if they're effective."

Actress Leslie Ash, who had to learn to walk again after contracting a hospital-acquired infection said she was pleased it had become an election issue.

But she said she did not simply "pinpoint" the responsibility to the hospital involved.

"It has been happening for a while, in fact there's been scientific evidence of hospital bugs for over 20 years. It's just got worse and worse."

Do you think targets get in the way of wiping out MRSA? Has Labour done enough to tackle the superbug? Who should take responsibility?

Your comments:

My spouse works in a major teaching hospital and we live in fear of her catching some bug. Who is responsible? Well who is responsible for cleaning and allocating budget for proper cleaning? Who is forcing hospitals to outsource cleaning to those who quote lowest? Ask John Reid and his staff - blame lies there. Also take to task those Hospital administrators who agree to such budgeting. They care more for their skin than patients' care and well being.
Mehkri, Surrey, UK

It's not only targets that impede tackling MRSA: it's the fact that ever-increasing bureaucracy gobbles up the resources: we need this to be slimmed down - radically - and we should start by ditching 'managers' with no medical knowledge and only trendy-sounding 'management-speak' at their finger-tips: good management is an asset, but you won't get that from non-medical Chief Execs and the like.
Mike F de B Bradley, Bristol

Targets are simply not related to MRSA. MRSA is an antibiotic resistant bacterium that is carried by people. It is that resistance that has meant a rise in cases. Hospital cleanliness has been reduced by the poor management of privatisation but this doesn't cause MRSA. The answer is for staff to wash between patients and for hospital visitors to wash their hands before being allowed in. All this political infighting over irrelevant issues is sick and alarmist.
Alex, London, UK

It has long been known that high bed occupancy rates lead to higher incidence of hospital acquired infection due to the inability to clean effectively. With a massive shortage of beds in UK hospitals, occupancy is high and so is incidence of MRSA. Targets to free up beds are surely a good idea here. Of course more hospitals could be built (and are being), though this takes years.
David Mansfield, Hornchurch

I don't think targets are responsible for increment in MRSA infection in hospitals. Nowadays, hospitals are equipped with swabs, antibacterial alcohol hand wash solutions etc. It's entirely rubbish point to blame targets as responsible criteria for the bug.
Sam, Notts

"Wrong to make the MRSA issue a political one"? Is this the same Mr Reid who was recorded on a news programme days ago in the West Country walking through streets trying to find a Tory Candidate who 'doctored' a poster saying "this is not a local issue, this is a national issue"? I can only think that the lack of opposition over the past few years has clouded ministers views on what is (or not) a national issue. For my money all the extra funds put into the NHS over the past 8 years should at least ensure a certain standard of cleanliness! I think the huge majority in the house enjoyed by Labour may have made them just a tad complacent.
Stephen Allsop, Essex

As with so many complex subjects, politicians tend to oversimplify the MRSA problem in their efforts to gain petty political advantage. As a fundamental of biology, micro-organisms will always adapt to survive and complete eradication of MRSA and any future superbugs is simply a fantasy. The best we can hope for is to keep the situation under control with patients, hospital staff and importantly also hospital visitors, being required to keep to a strict hygiene routine. It is simply stupid for the Tories to make this a political issue. What happens to 'matron' when she loses patients through hospital acquired infection? Does she get sacked?
Rob, Edinburgh

There is always a large question in infectious diseases. Do reporting rates go up because the number of infections goes up, or just because we are looking for it? As to who is to blame - is it the cleaners? The politicians? The doctors who don't wash their hands between patients? Or maybe the patients who carried bacteria into hospital with them. If I make one recommendation, use your voice. Insist that doctors and nurses or anyone coming to treat you washes their hands, don't just think it, say it. Wash your own hands after touching things you feel may be dirty and make your visitors do the same. You won't wipe out MRSA, it's too good at adapting, but you could control it and minimise patient's risk of being exposed to it. Fighting hospital infection comes down to limited resources, maybe if people weren't so quick to sue the NHS when they got an infection there would be more money to pay the cleaners.
Bethan, Cardiff

MRSA is a problem in healthcare throughout the world. It exists in private healthcare systems as well as public ones such as the NHS. It is emerging because bacteria are quite good at evolving resistance to antibiotics (there are many resistant organisms other than MRSA). Targets in the NHS have absolutely nothing to do with the spread of MRSA and it is absurd and dangerous for the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties to suggest they do. Quite how 'bringing back matron' would help I don't know, since it has already happened! We need to encourage visitors and all staff (yes, even doctors) to wash their hands before touching patients - the present rate is about 20% for staff, probably zero for visitors. We need to enforce antibiotic prescribing policies, since at the moment anyone with a pen and a medical degree can prescribe any antibiotic to anyone for anything. This is bound to lead to trouble. It would be really nice to have a proper debate about how to deal with this problem, but at the moment it is not happening.
Dr John Coakley, London

The NHS will always be a top issue at every General Election but this time it must be the top issue because our 'jewel in the crown' has been tarnished by the proliferation of MRSA which has happened during Tony Blair's watch and for this he must accept responsibility. In their efforts to turn our hospitals into "people factories" they have created a fear factor at the prospect of hospitalisation which even 5 years ago did not exist. In their preoccupation with waiting times etc. new Labour has taken its eye off the basics. They have driven the NHS further back in time than anybody will admit. The most basic attribute of health care is cleanliness and this has been sadly neglected by this government. It is amazing that almost everybody one speaks to knows someone who has been affected by MRSA. This is an epidemic which is out of control. When I enquired about a virulent infection which put my wife back into hospital after an earlier minor procedure, the local hospital in Coventry claimed to have "lost the records". So what is the true picture? For me this is why New Labour, Mr Blair and in particular Mr Reid have lost my trust.
Robert Timmins, Rugby