Hospital in superbug row

One of London's newest hospitals is at the centre of a legal row over the MRSA superbug.

In a case which could see the NHS paying out millions, the new University College Hospital faces High Court action over space between beds.

Work started on the flagship hospital in 2001, before concerns about MRSA became such a big issue for the NHS.

Now hospitals are supposed to leave 3.6 metres between each bed to stop the bug spreading from patient to patient. But UCH falls 90 centimetres short of the new regulation.

A growing epidemic of MRSA, which kills up to 5,000 people a year, has led Health Secretary John Reid to call on all hospitals to halve their rates of infection by 2008.

Today lawyer James Bell will lodge judicial review proceedings at the High Court. If upheld by a judge, UCH could be forced either to remove beds or build an extension.

Mr Bell says it was " outrageous" that, he believes, the NHS Trust "failed to factor in patient safety" when designing a new hospital that would serve the community for up to 50 years.

The error was noticed only when a group of local residents were shown around part of the building earlier this year. One, former architect Alan Spence, noticed that the beds were close together and contacted Christian Khan solicitors to take up the case.

Mr Spence says it is "appalling" that the planning of a new NHS hospital should put patients at risk.

The new 18-storey UCH is due to open next year at a cost of almost ?422 million. It has been fitted with state-of-the-art equipment, including electronic patient records to make it "paperless". It replaces both the present UCH building and Middlesex Hospital.

Besides those who die from MRSA, thousands more have to have limbs amputated to stop the spread of the disease.

In 2002, new "consumerism" guidelines were drawn up by the NHS to protect against the spread of the bug. It was these that outlined the need for beds to be at least 3.6 metres apart.

But by then the design for the new University College Hospital had already been approved. A private finance initiative deal had also been signed for its construction.

Although the actual building had not yet begun, those involved claimed it was too late to redesign the hospital to meet the new guidelines. A spokesman for the University College London Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust, said meeting the new guidelines would cost it 200 beds.

"The full outline business case for the new University College Hospital including design was signed off in 2000. This allowed the Trust to replace the current UCH and Middlesex Hospital without losing any beds."