A NORTH-EAST hospital figures in a league table for the most deaths from the MRSA "superbug".

There were nine deaths from the infection at The Freeman Hospital, in Newcastle, during 2002. The table, the first of its kind, shows The Freeman in joint ninth place, and reveals there were 22 MRSA deaths in one hospital alone, Derriford, Plymouth.

The figures, given to an MP by the Office of National Statistics, shows the total number of deaths reported in the 1.014 hospitals and nursing homes studied in England and Wales, was 721.

This is lower than a separate National Audit Office study that estimated 5,000 deaths a year are caused by hospital infections, with about 40 per cent - or 2,000 - potentially attributed to MRSA.

The infection is a common bug, but is particularly dangerous in hospitals because it can enter the bloodstream through wounds.

Its spread has been partly attributed to poor hygiene practices by medical staff.

Andrew MacKinlay, Labour MP for Thurrock, whose questions uncovered the figures, said there was still a "conspiracy of silence" over the number of MRSA deaths reported.

He said: "Hospitals and consultants have a vested interest in not disclosing these deaths, and there is nothing to ensure they fill out death certificates accurately."