Airedale did not record a single hospital-acquired case of the MRSA illness during 2009-2010, according to the director of infection prevention.

Dr Paul Godwin delivered the news to the foundation trust board.

Outlining an annual report on the trust’s handling of such illnesses, he pointed out that the six cases of MRSA which were detected had all been contracted outside the hospital.

He said the year had also seen a dramatic fall in the number of clostridium difficile infections, with only 27 cases recorded.

“The number of these cases used to be in the hundreds,” he said.

Non-executive director Jeff Colclough said the decline in the rate of clostridium difficile meant patients were staying in hospital for less time, making more beds available.

Dr Godwin said that while this was good news, the hospital still had to cope with high levels of viral gastroenteritis. He said the prevalence of this illness was a national problem and not restricted to Airedale.

Dr Godwin explained that gastroenteritis was particularly infectious and could attack healthy people, as well as patients. He said the number of recorded cases of the bug would also have increased because medical advances had made it easier to diagnose.