Oxford Community Hospital has been declared "unfit for purpose" after a third outbreak of superbug clostridium difficile and is likely to be closed.

The 24-bed hospital, situated within the Churchill Hospital complex, in Headington, has been shut to new admissions and 17 patients cannot leave until they are officially discharged, to stop the spread of the infection.

Oxfordshire NHS Primary Care Trust, which runs the hospital, took the decision last week after four patients contracted clostridium difficile - which can be fatal. The patients have been isolated.

After the previous two outbreaks, last December and in February this year, the building underwent a deep clean but the third occurrence means health officials are now deciding if they should close the hospital permanently and seek new facilities.

The PCT has launched an investigation into how the infection broke out and an assessent of the building, which is leased from the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS .

A PCT spokesman said: "We need to provide services in a more appropriate environment and are reviewing alternative facilities at our network of community hospitals.

"Without considerable remodelling, the hospital will not reopen in the current building - it does not lend itself to the most effective infection control measures.

"In the immediate future, patients requiring services will be cared for at the PCT's other community hospitals.

"Longer-term plans for the care of patients needing inpatient rehabilitation and non-acute care are currently being considered. This includes finding alternative facilities in Oxford."

Oxfordshire joint health overview and scrutiny committee chairman Dr Peter Skolar supported the closure and stressed the PCT had done everything it could to combat the outbreaks of the infection.

He said last night: "The view of the director of public health Dr Jonathan McWilliam and his advisers is the building is not fit for purpose and must close on health and safety grounds.

"If that building can't provide care safely, then that building must close. This was an emergency that required urgent action."

Dr Skolar said he believed the latest outbreak proved there was an issue with the building, because the PCT had disinfected and deep cleaned it in line with national guidelines.

He added: "The view of the people who know best is that they have done everything they can - the problem is you can't clean the place properly. It's not a case of hoping. This must be resolved.

"They can't use that building. It's unfit for purpose. They have done everything they should have done and yet they have got another outbreak."

An Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals spokesman said managers did not believe there was a risk of the infection spreading to the rest of the Churchill.

The community hospital treats about 300 patients a year, who are recovering from conditions such as heart problems, strokes and broken bones.

CONTAGIOUS

The South East of England, which includes Oxfordshire, has the highest rates of deaths by clostridium difficile in the UK.

In 2006, 576 people died of C diff, although no specific figures for Oxfordshire were available.

Clostridium difficile is a bacterium from the group that includes tetanus and botulism.

It causes diarrhoea, ranging from mild disturbance to very severe illness, and is highly contagious. Serious cases can result in ulcers and bleeding from the colon. Patients who have been treated with antibiotics for a range of bacteria are at greatest risk of picking up the disease.

Most infections occur in hospitals and nursing homes. For more details, see www.dh.gov.uk