RESIDENTS from Enfield and Haringey spoke out about their fears of the MRSA superbug during a meeting with health chiefs last week.

North Middlesex Hospital, in Sterling Way, Edmonton, and Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals, were ranked the worst in the country for high infection rates among patients, in recent Department of Health figures.

The meeting, held at Enfield's Civic Centre on Wednesday night, was called by Enfield's health scrutiny panel in a bid to find out how the bug attacks and how the hospitals are tackling the problem.

Chief executives Claire Panniker, of the North Middlesex Hospital NHS Trust, and Averil Dongworth, of Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust, were joined by their infection control teams and leading health agencies.

Residents listened to presentations, including a demonstration on the correct way to apply antibacterial alcohol gel to the hands, used by hospital staff to destroy bacteria.

Both trusts insisted they were improving procedures by pumping more cash into infection control.

Chase Farm chief executive Averil Dongworth said: "The message to the public is we are listening to you and taking this issue seriously."

Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust will spend an additional £180,000, tackling MRSA. Part of the money will be spent employing more infection control staff.

A review of the trust's decontamination policy, increased cleaning schedules, cleanliness spot checks and making sure alcohol gel is readily available on wards, is underway.

Improvements at North Middlesex Hospital include plans to create a new building, investing an extra £600,000 into its cleaning contract, leafleting patients on hygiene practice and a research study into deep cleaning hospital beds.

But residents remained sceptical and unsatisfied with many of the answers.

One member of the public, after hearing North Middlesex Hospital provided a bottle of alcohol hand gel by every bed, told the meeting: "I visited a patient in the hospital this August and there was no alcohol gel by the bed. "When I went to put their wash-bag in the cupboard, the previous occupant's wash-things were still in there. I had to get some wipes and clean it myself."

Concerns were raised about nurses wearing uniforms in public, and hygiene leaflets not being readily available on wards.

Nick de Bois, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Enfield North, accused the trusts of acting with complacency.

He said: "They should recognise residents had genuine worries about the conditions at these hospitals and they should explain to the meeting why Enfield had the worst performing hospitals in the country for MRSA.

"I challenged them to accept responsibility for putting their patients and hard-working clinical staff at unnecessary risk because of their complacency. Nobody seemed satisfied with their answers."

MRSA Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus exists on the skin of healthy people without harm but can cause deadly infections if it enters the bodies of vulnerable people.

It used to be treated with an antibiotic but in the past 50 years has developed resistance.

Enfield's health scrutiny panel is to publish a report on the meeting.