A woman who tested positive for MRSA after being admitted to Bradford Royal Infirmary fears she could have inadvertently infected a fellow patient.

Victoria Hart, 23, of Castlegate Drive, Eccleshill, was screened for the hospital superbug after being admitted through A&E as an emergency patient, suffering from severe stomach pains, on Thursday, April 28.

She was first put on ward 20, where she was unhappy with the quality of her care, having to ask repeatedly for pain relief.

At 10pm on Saturday, April 30, Miss Hart was transferred, along with a fellow female patient, to a male surgical ward, because of a shortage of beds on a female ward.

The pair were put in a double side room on the ward, but Miss Hart said a separate toilet allocated to them was still being used by men on the ward.

Miss Hart’s fellow patient was discharged on Monday, May 2, and she was moved into a single room. It was then she was given a product called hibiscrub to wash her hair and body with twice a day, but not told why.

She was “worried and scared” to find she was under barrier nursing and it was only when she called her mother, who in turn called the ward to find out what was happening, that a nurse informed Miss Hart she had tested positive for MRSA.

Miss Hart says staff knew she had MRSA while she was sharing a room with her fellow female patient, who had a colostomy bag.

“I know that a person with one of these has an open wound, which is what MRSA attacks,” said Miss Hart. “I have spoken to this lady and made her aware of the danger this ward’s staff have put her in. I myself did not even know that I had MRSA, so I knew that they wouldn’t have made her aware of it when she was discharged.”

The patient is now waiting for test results to see if she has contracted MRSA and Miss Hart has submitted a formal complaint to hospital bosses.

A spokesman for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We’re sorry to hear about Miss Hart’s recent experience at the BRI.

“We take her comments very seriously and, having just received a copy of her letter, will now fully investigate her concerns.”

  • Read the full story in Tuesday's T&A