Hospitals could be fined many thousands of pounds for missing an NHS zero tolerance target for superbug MRSA.

Epsom and St Helier Hospitals NHS Trust had three "avoidable" cases of MRSA between May and September, as well as a further case in January.

It is not yet known if the most recent case could have been avoided or not. The NHS target is zero cases.

After a board meeting this month, the trust’s chief nurse Pippa Hart said: "It’s quite a blunt tool. In the contract there is a clause which means the commissioners can fine us £10,000 per case.

"However, we would need to have discussions with our commissioners whether or not they wish to levy that fine."

When asked about actions to fight MRSA, she said: "We are doing what we have been doing for the last four years which is focusing on the fundamentals of care."

This includes good hand hygiene, line management and understanding the complexities of cases being looked after.

Hospital patients are more at risk of the bacterial infection, which is resistant to a number of widely used antibiotics.

The bacteria, known as Staph, can cause mild skin infections such as boils as well as life-threatening blood poisoning or infection of the heart lining.

In the last financial year, 2013 to 2014, there were two cases at Epsom Hospital and six cases at St Helier, against a target of zero.