A PATIENT watchdog has called on MPs to hold a top-level investigation into the killer bug outbreak at three Kent hospitals.

David Herbert, chairman of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Patients Forum, said he wanted the Commons health select committee to investigate what had happened and what lessons could be learned.

He added that a special inquiry could force the former chief executive Rose Gibb to answer questions in public about the crisis.

The suggestion has been supported by the Kent Labour MP Dr Howard Stoate, a member of the select committee. He has agreed to raise the issue and see if an investigation can be added to the committee's programme.

Mr Herbert said: "There are other issues here and it is not just about a failure of management. I htink we should have a parliamentary inquiry in the same way the Treasury select committee is examining what happened at Northern Rock.

"This is not the first time that this [a C-diff outbreak] has happened and the question is where next? There is something at fault in the system and it ought to be opened up to public debate. There needs to be an examination of the broader picture."

It was wrong if the former chief executive Rose Gibb, who has not yet made any public comment, had been "gagged" by a confidentiality clause linked to her severance terms.

"I do not know why we have not heard anything from Rose Gibb. I cannot imagine that she does not have anything to say...on a matter of public interest," he said.

Dr Stoate said: "I do think this is a good idea and is something we should be considering.

"We have seen how the Treasury select committee has used its inquiry into Northern Rock effectively to bring things to public attention and infection control at our hospitals is an important issue."