Infection control experts at hospitals are stepping up their battle to stop patients picking up infections while in their care.

They have brought in measures to count and monitor the number of people who catch infections such as pneumonia and urinary tract infections at Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester General and Glenfield hospitals.

Suzanne Hinchliffe, chief nurse at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, said: "We have done some amazing work cutting the number of MRSA and Clostridium difficile infections.

"We are now moving into looking at other infections, such as pneumonia and urinary tract.

"Until now, the number of people with these, and similar infections, has not been recorded.

"It is important we do this and that we look at how we manage these patients to make sure we do all we can to prevent them acquiring infections in hospital."

The work has won praise from the country's chief nurse, Dame Christine Beasley.

Dame Christine said: "This is really important. Hospitals have made big inroads around MRSA and C diff, but there are other infections and it is important to be more ambitious and to address these."

Her comments came as she visited wards at Leicester Royal Infirmary yesterday.

She said: "There is a real buzz among the nurses here.

"I found them very positive about setting up services which are best for the patients.

"I found them to be a group of people who are passionate about getting things right."

She welcomed a report from the National Audit Office recommending all trusts set up a surveillance system for hospital infections.