A scrupulous screening system has helped keep Oxford's new private hospital MRSA-free since it opened six months ago.

Staff at the Manor Hospital, Headington, treat patients with a special shower gel before admission and wash curtains in rooms contaminated with the bug.

News of their success coincides with an Oxford Mail Internet poll which shows that almost 80 per cent of people believe the NHS has failed to get the problem of MRSA infection under control.

But staff at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust, which oversees the county's acute NHS hospitals, said there was no conclusive evidence that some of the procedures used at the Manor were effective against infection control.

They said their hospitals were more prone to MRSA than the nearby private centre because they treated a wider range of patients, many of whom were vulnerable to infection.

At the Manor Hospital MRSA screening starts at a pre-admission check-up, before people are treated.

Patient liaison nurses use swab tests to assess patients for the bug, and if it is present on their skin, they are given a five-day skin cleansing treatment to use at home. In the hospital -- one of 44 owned by private healthcare firm Nuffield Hospitals -- all staff receive annual infection control training, and are taught to use alcohol gel and the washbasins in each of the 71 ensuite patient rooms.

Manor Hospital inpatient services manager Marion Southwood said that while they benefited by treating patients in single rooms, their pre-admission system could be adopted by the NHS.

She said: "I think most of our practice is transferrable to the NHS, but where we do have the advantage is having a brand new building where we were able to incorporate sinks into each room."

She said if someone was admitted to the Manor Hospital as a surgical emergency and staff were unable to use the pre-screening system, doctors and nurses used protective clothing and single-use equipment as a precaution.

Although MRSA rates have fallen by 35 per cent at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Radcliffe Infirmary, and the Horton, Banbury, the public is still concerned about the problem.

Last week, our website, thisisoxfordshire.co.uk, asked: "Do you think the authorities have the problem under control?" Of 133 people who answered, 106 said no.

An ORH spokesman said: "Our hospitals treat a wider range of patients than those seen at the Manor Hospital, including many more emergency and high dependency patients.

"This case mix means direct comparisons of MRSA rates between these hospitals do not give a valid picture of the level of infection control."