A WEARSIDE hospital which is to become an elite foundation trust has the unenviable record of having the region's worst superbug infection rate.
MRSA infection rates released by the Department of Health show that City Hospitals Sunderland has the highest rate - 0.22 MRSA cases per 1,000 bed days.
But the large South Tees Hospitals trust, which includes the flagship James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, is not far behind with a score of 0.20.
At the other end of the scale, the relatively small Harrogate trust had the best record in the region with only 0.04 cases.
NHS bosses were criticised by the National Audit Office for failing to tackle the increasing rate of hospital blood infections caused by the bug staphylococcus aureas.
Other scores included South Tyneside (0.10), York (0.13), Gateshead (0.16) Northumbria (0.17), Scarborough (0.18), Newcastle (0.18), North Tees and Hartlepool (0.06), and County Durham and Darlington (0.9).
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