The Scottish Executive is prepared to fund the screening of patients for superbugs before they receive hospital treatment.

The Scottish Executive is prepared to fund the screening of patients for superbugs before they receive hospital treatment.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon today promises she will introduce testing for MRSA, assuming experts back the approach as expected this autumn.

In what could prove to be a landmark announcement, Ms Sturgeon said if specialists give the go-ahead, she is "determined" to find the money to finance a screening programme.

Her announcement comes a week after a groundbreaking study found almost one in 10 patients picks up an infection in Scotland's major hospitals after they arrive.

It confirmed one of the biggest problems on the wards is MRSA, a drug-resistant bacterium carried on the skin that can prove fatal when it gets inside the body.

An investigation of whether patients admitted to Scottish hospitals could be screened for the superbug is already under way and a final report is expected around September.

The consultation document recommends swab-testing all patients and isolating those carrying the bug in single rooms to stop the bacterium spreading.

The proposal raises many questions about how hospitals would create and staff the isolation wards and the bill for implementing the strategy would run to tens of millions of pounds.

However, last week's report calculated the cost of healthcare associated infections (HAIs) to Scotland's major hospitals is £183m a year.

Writing in The Herald today, Ms Sturgeon says: "It will take time to make a real difference, but the report left me in no doubt about the need to step up our efforts. It is imperative that we continue to drive up cleaning standards in our hospitals. And, if the experts give the go-ahead, I am determined that we will fund an MRSA screening programme."

Leading microbiologist Professor Hugh Pennington has long supported patient screening backed by the isolation of those with positive results.

Last night, he said: "We have not really had any systematic approach to this problem in Scotland. It has been done piecemeal basically reacting to outbreaks, some hospitals being keener than others Having a universal screening policy could drive standards up in a positive way everywhere."

The Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Clydebank screens patients for MRSA on admission. It has not had a case of MRSA infection for the past two years.

Derek Butler, chairman of charity MRSA Action UK which is laying wreaths at Westminster Abbey today as part of its awareness campaign, said: "If Scotland is going down the screening route we applaud the Scottish government and the Scottish health system for doing what is the natural thing."