For the first time you can look up the numbers of superbug deaths at your hospital.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published a report of deaths involving MRSA and C-diff, showing figures by institution, rather than by hospital trust.

It was almost a year ago that Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust hit the headlines when a Healthcare Commission report linked C-diff to the cause of 90 deaths between April 2004 and September 2006.

The ONS report shows C-diff deaths between 2001 and 2007, using death certificates which either mention the superbug or give it as an underlying cause of death.

Last year, there were 35 deaths involving C-diff at Maidstone Hospital.

The highest year for deaths, according to ONS figures was 2006, with 73.

Over four years between 2002 and 2006, there were 113 C-diff deaths at Maidstone Hospital , representing 2.23 per cent of all deaths, and 39 at the Kent and Sussex Hospital, Tunbridge Wells - 1.4 per cent of all deaths.

Since the Healthcare Commission’s report, the trust has introduced a dedicated isolation ward at Maidstone Hospital for all patients suspected of having C-diff.

At a trust board meeting this week, Dr Sara Mumford, director of infection protection and control, said: "Numbers of cases are now below the national average and we are aiming for a revised target, set by the Strategic Health Authority of a 40 per cent reduction over three years.

"There have been no outbreaks on wards or ward closures over the last three months."

The trust has also ordered new signs at all hospital entrances, reminding visitors of the importance of hand washing and using alcohol gel.

Nationally, the ONS report shows that deaths from C-diff increased every year from 2001. In 2007, 8,324 death certificates mentioned C-diff, a 28 per cent increase from 2006. Its report cannot say whether people definitely contracted C-diff in hospital, or elsewhere and cautions that reporting on death certificates can vary.

C-diff related deaths at Kent’s other hospitals between 2002 and 2006:Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Canterbury: 33- 0.58 per cent of all deaths.

QEQM, Margate: 66 - 1.04 per cent of all deaths.

William Harvey Hospital, Ashford: 64 - 1.03 per cent of all deaths.

Darent Valley Hosptial, Dartford: 26 - 0.44 per cent of all deaths.