Jane Hutt has launched the a hospital hygiene strategy

The information will be released next year after health officials have examined how to present the figures.

Wales has lower rates of MRSA infection than England or Scotland, where figures are already published.

Opposition AMs had called for hospital-by-hospital figures to be released, but they claimed the new format would not single out MRSA from other infections.

The assembly already publishes infection rates - including that of MRSA - supplied by hospital trusts. But these do not identify individual hospitals.

It appears she is still refusing to separate out data on the disease that most people are concerned about: MRSA Kirsty Williams, Lib Dem AM

Ms Hutt has been under pressure in recent weeks to change this system.

Last month Clive Harris, whose daughter Kelly lost a toe after contracting MRSA, said he wanted the figures at the University Hospital of Wales to be published.

In announcing the move, Ms Hutt said she had asked a panel of health experts to examine how the information should be collected and used.

She has rejected the idea of creating "league tables" of hospital infection rates.

'Better understanding'

She said that in future published figures would show rates and types of infection broken down by individual hospitals, and community health councils would take part in the preparation of the data.

She said: "The collection of the information must be accurate and the publication must be informative to allow patients to assess, in a balanced way, any infection risks to which they may be exposed.

"Patients can already seek information on infection risk through talking to their clinician but I want the general public to have a better understanding about the nature of and risks associated with hospital-acquired infections."

Liberal Democrat AM Kirsty Williams said: "While I welcome the fact that Jane Hutt has finally conceded the point on publishing data on a hospital-by-hospital basis, it appears she is still refusing to separate out data on the disease that most people are concerned about: MRSA.

"What I don't understand is why it has taken Jane Hutt so long to reach this conclusion.

"At long last AMs, and everyone else, will be able to see whether the minister's actions are succeeding in tackling infections in our hospitals."

Plaid Cymru health spokesman Rhodri Glyn Thomas asked why information on MRSA infection levels was "so complex in Wales so that you had to defer the release."

Overall in Wales, there were 152 cases of MRSA in 1996, rising to 342 in 2001 and 481 last year.