Unison has called for an end to contract cleaning and an increase in NHS manpower in order to reduce the number of people infected with the MRSA superbug.

Publishing its research on Monday, the public sector union said that cost cutting and contracting out have led to a significant increase in MRSA infections in British hospitals.

Party Response: Conservative

Andrew Lansley, shadow health secretary, said: "MRSA cases have doubled on this government’s watch but the public need to be able to expect that their hospitals will be clean and safe.