There were 19 C-diff cases in three months until the end of last year, at two hospitals run by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

Latest figures released by the Health Protection Agency for October-December 2008 reveal there were 13 C-diff cases at Maidstone Hospital and six at the Kent and Sussex Hospital, Tunbridge Wells. There were no cases at Pembury Hospital.

The trust is also waiting for its own figures for January-March to be confirmed by the agency, which will show an overall fall in C-diff in the last year of 60 per cent.

Dr Sara Mumford, the trust’s director of infection, prevention and control, said: "Our staff are working extremely hard to protect patients from avoidable infections to the extent that we are now among the best in the country for infection control.

"These figures continue to show the excellent progress we’re making and prove how clean our hospitals are and how much emphasis we’re placing on infection control.

"If people visiting our hospitals do just one thing this year to help us protect their relatives, they should continue to ensure they clean their hands on entering and leaving our hospitals. It is simple and it is effective."

The Care Quality Commission, formerly the Healthcare Commission, which inspected the trust in 2007 after patient and relatives’ complaints about C-diff in its hospitals, published a statement congratulating the NHS nationally for driving down cases of hospital acquired infections.