PATIENTS will only be allowed two visitors at a time and staff will be banned from wearing uniforms outside hospital as part of new MRSA controls.

The East Lancashire Hospital's NHS Trust's new policy of "two's company, three's a crowd" will be "enforced robustly" after a prog-ramme of awareness to highlight the new ruling.

The principle is part of a five-point plan, spearheaded by chief executive Jo Cubbon, in a bid to combat superbugs such as MRSA in hospital wards.

The plan, which has been welcomed by the family of MRSA victim David Short -- who caught MRSA in Blackburn's Queen's Park Hospital -- and follows an Evening Telegraph investigation into breaches of existing guidelines.

It includes:

l No more than two visitors to any patient at any given time.

l The introduction of reduced visiting times 2-4pm and 6-8pm.

l A "no uniform worn off site" order to prevent staff travelling to and from work in their uniforms. The head of facilities at the hospital is currently acsertaining the number of changing facilities needed to allow the initiative to be implemented fully by July 2006.

l A ban on anyone unwell visiting hospital patients.

l Separate isolation facilities for patients with hospital-acquired infections will be considered in a Clinical Service Review as "superbugs become more prevalent."

And in a meeting with Mr Short's brother and son, Mrs Cubbon invited them to outline their own experiences at an event at Ewood Park to raise the profile on how to deal with MRSA.

She said she would be "delighted" if the family would be an integral part of the event by standing up on stage and explaining to the doctors, nurses, patients and general public what their family had experienced and how it felt.

David Short, 61, of Zion Road, Blackburn, was the first person in East Lancashire to die of MRSA after being admitted to hospital for a routine operation for ulcerative colitis.

His brother, Martin Ravenscroft of Topaz Street, said: "We felt our meeting with Mrs Cubbon was very productive and it is good to know that we have the same goals -- to stamp out MRSA.

Mrs Cubbon added: "The Trust recognises that there is a big issue surrounding hospital- acquired infections.

"To this end a public awareness event has been planned for the evening of November 19 at Ewood Park."