A MAN lost his right kneecap after catching MRSA nine times following what he calls 'hygiene blunders' in Worcester hospitals.

Ken Sutton, of Teme Crescent in Droitwich, claims he was repeatedly hit with the superbug after an operation to rebuild his leg following a motorbike accident.

The 60-year-old former HGV driver says the ordeal contributed to his marriage breakdown, left him crippled and meant he was unable to work.

He has now been told he will need a brace and shoe to walk.

After three years of trying to sue Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust - which says it has done nothing wrong and is beating the bugs - he has now had to abandon his case because he has run out of money.

"The NHS hid behind a cloak of secrecy, conveniently lost documents and records and hired very eminent QCs," he said.

His ordeal began after surgeons at Worcester Royal Infirmary inserted pins and plates in his right leg in 2000 after he broke it in six places and smashed his knee.

But a week later, he suffered violent pains and his leg swelled to twice its size as MRSA took hold. He was given antibiotics but the bug got under the plates and made them expand.

Mr Sutton needed eight more operations, the final one at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital, and caught MRSA eight more times, which resulted in his right knee being removed, leaving that leg one-and-a-half inches shorter than the left.

Mr Sutton claims hospital staff repeatedly failed to keep to hygiene guidelines to keep the bug at bay.

"I was in isolation but that was a joke," he said. "It's supposed to be sterile but cleaners and canteen staff would just walk in.

"I repeatedly caught MRSA because of hygiene blunders. But I'm one of the lucky ones - other people have died. It's disgusting that people are catching MRSA at modern hospitals."

A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said the Trust had obtained independent expert evidence after Mr Sutton started legal action.

"This concluded that the care given to Mr Sutton was totally appropriate and all the correct MRSA screening procedures and hygiene measures were carried out by the Trust," he added.

"We take infection control extremely seriously and we've been working hard to reduce the numbers of hospital-acquired infections."

He added that the presence of MRSA on a number of occasions from the same patient usually reflects repeated detection of the same organism and does not mean they have 'caught' the infection again.