A York Hospital today moved to reassure patients after admitting to having a problem with rats.

York Hospitals NHS Trust has stressed cleanliness was treated with "the utmost importance" amid claims by a senior York nurse that dead vermin had not been collected for three weeks after being exterminated at Bootham Park Hospital.

A spokesman said the trust was "aware of an issue with rats at Bootham Park" but was working closely with environmental health and York Council's pest control department to eradicate the problem.

"In addition, we use a pest control company who are on site every day to deal with such issues. All exterminated rats are taken away and disposed of in the proper manner."

Meanwhile, official figures revealed today that infections with the MRSA superbug in NHS hospitals have reached their lowest level since mandatory records began in 2001.

Health Secretary John Reid welcomed the Health Protection Agency figures as a sign that the Government's measures to clean up hospitals were starting to bite, but acknowledged that MRSA "remains a problem".

He announced new initiatives to step up the fight against the antibiotic-resistant bug, including a new rapid swab technique to identify patients coming into hospitals with MRSA within two hours rather than several days. It is hoped this test will be particularly helpful in preventing patients bringing the bug into hospitals from care homes.

The figures for the six months from April to September of last year show that some 3,519 NHS patients were infected with MRSA, compared to 3,940 in the previous six months and 3,598 in the same period of 2001.

Conservative leader Michael Howard has made hospital-acquired infections like MRSA a central plank of his attacks on Labour stewardship of the health service, making "cleaner hospitals" one of his five key pledges for the general election expected on May 5. Around 5,000 patients die each year from bugs picked up on the wards, including about 1,000 from MRSA.

Dr Reid hopes that today's figures will help neutralise a potent weapon in the Tories' battle to chip away at Labour's lead in the polls.

He urged politicians who had been "condemning" the NHS over recent weeks to congratulate staff on their apparent success in turning round the growth of MRSA.

Dr Reid is under fire after it emerged Great Ormond Street Hospital had cancelled operations and closed beds due to a funding shortfall. The famous children's hospital is £1.7 million in deficit for this year.

Updated: 12:05 Monday, March 07, 2005