WINCHESTER health bosses face a hefty fine after becoming victims of their own success.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust has been winning the battle against superbug C Diff for several years but has now had its target halved.

After recording 40 cases last year at Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Andover War Memorial Hospital and Basingstoke hospital, its new target is 21, with a £50,000 fine for every extra case.

C Diff is an infection of the gut which can lead to severe diarrhoea and bowel inflammation. So far this year 11 cases have been recorded, in line with last year, but already above the halfway target.

Members of the trust board complained about the possibility of the fine and branded the targets “ridiculous”.

Speaking at a board meeting in Winchester on Friday (July 19), Bob Beveridge, non-executive director, said: “I’m worried we are taking a stance that seems like we are apologising for this. Can we not say that C Diff is at a low level and we are in line with last year but are behind an arbitrary target?

“We should not have to flay ourselves in public for not meeting a ridiculous target.”

Trust chairman Elizabeth Padmore added: “This is always a problem. You have a mantra that keeps cutting targets in half if you are successful. If you are performing well you are almost penalised by having to get to a really, really low level.

“But the targets are not set by us and we have no right to appeal them.”

Medical director Dr Andrew Bishop said the new target would be a good test of the trust’s resources.

He said: “It’s an interesting question. Do we throw a huge amount more time and effort into it to try and meet the target or do we keep as we are. It’s a good test case for us.”

But Mr Beveridge added: “The problem is the money we spend doing that could be better spent somewhere else.”

There has been a dramatic fall in hospital acquired infections over the last five years. In 2007, at the RHCH alone, there were 158 patients with C Diff.