Family's hospital care complaint

Ms Nixon took her father out of hospital before he died on 8 August

The daughter of a man who contracted the clostridium difficile superbug has criticised his hospital care.

Joseph Nixon, 87, an ex-serviceman and police officer, died from pneumonia at his home in Maidstone, Kent, after being treated at the town's hospital.

His daughter Jackie claimed he was left in a soiled bed there for several hours on one occasion.

The hospital trust said it "takes concerns about nursing care very seriously" and would be investigating.

Mr Nixon went into Maidstone Hospital on 12 July suffering from bowel problems and a chest infection.

A first test for C. diff came back negative, but a second one on 31 July was then positive.

The trust takes concerns about nursing care very seriously Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust

Ms Nixon, 46, said her father was isolated in a side room, and his health deteriorated because he could not continue with a course of antibiotics to treat his pneumonia.

She said: "One night I told them [hospital staff] at 1900 BST that he needed clearing up.

"By 2130 BST still no-one had come, and they had told me by then that because he was C. diff I mustn't clear up myself. So I had to leave him in it."

But Ms Nixon said she did not blame the nurses, because their workload meant they shouldered an "unbearable burden".

The Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said in a statement: "We are very sorry that Mr Nixon's care did not meet the family's expectations and we will be undertaking a full investigation into the issues raised."

Ms Nixon said her father's death certificate showed C. diff as a contributory factor.

The trust said rates of infection from the superbug across its three hospitals were significantly down from a year ago, when eight people died in the space of six months.