The hospital has met its rates for reducing infections of MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C. diff).

There were 11 cases of MRSA bloodstream infection between April 2007 and March 2008, below the Department of Health target of no more than 12 cases.

Last year there were 27 cases at the hospital.

Rates of C. diff in patients over 65 also fell, with 225 diagnosed in the same period. The hospital's target was 284 cases, a reduction of more than 40 per cent on 2006.

Dr Tony Bentley, director of infection prevention and control said: "This has been a remarkable achievement and staff have been working incredibly hard to achieve these results.

"Preventing infections is a key priority for everyone at Northampton General Hospital, and these new figures show that our commitment to infection control is paying off.

"For issues like this it's important to have something to aim for, and beating the targets means we know we're going in the right direction. Next year's targets are set even lower, and we expect to meet them because our goal for the future has to be that not a single preventable infection is allowed to develop."

The hospital has recently completed a deep clean of its 30 inpatient wards. The trust has now committed to an ongoing programme that will see a third of all wards undergo a deep clean every year.

MRSA infections can be difficult to treat because of the bacteria's resistance to antibiotics. The bacteria is carried on the skin but can cause infection if it gets into the body or bloodstream.

C. diff bacteria are present in the gut and do not cause problems in healthy people but can multiply when patients are being treated with antibiotics.