A FORMER hospital cleaning supervisor whose leg was amputated because of MRSA today vowed to clean-up dirty wards --by becoming a hospital inspector.

Norman Turner, 42, from Darwen, said that he now wants to dedicate his life to improving hospital hygiene standards to combat the spread of the hospital acquired super-bug.

The father-of-two was admitted to Blackburn Royal Infirmary -- the hospital where he once worked -- for a routine operation to replace an artery with an artificial one on August 20.

The wound site in his groin became infected with MRSA and as Mr Turner fell into a coma, doctors were forced to save his life by amputating his left leg at the hip.

He has already approached various MRSA support groups and Patient and Public Involvement Forum (PPI) bosses have said they would welcome him as a member of their hospital forum which carries out spot-checks on hygiene standards within the East Lancashire Hospital's NHS Trust.

Mr Turner said: "All I want to do now is commit my time to volunteer work to improve hygiene standards in hospitals so nobody else has to go through what I have.

"That way at least something good will come out of something bad and I know a lot about MRSA with my background in hospital cleaning and my first-hand experience of exactly what it can do.

"I want to join the hospital inspectors and look for areas that are really dirty. I know where to look and what to look for.

"Something needs to be done as people are so scared of catching MRSA and ending up like me that they are cancelling operations that they need.

"And if doctors see me inspecting the wards and know what I went through then they may think more about the importance of washing their hands in between treating every single patient."

Mr Turner was discharged from hospital into White Ash Brook Nursing Home in Thwaites Road on November 9, despite still being infected with MRSA.

He has been forced to give up his home because of access issues for a wheelchair and on Monday will move into a specially designed flat in Blackburn.

He is also still waiting to find out whether his last set of tests taken for MRSA on November 13 are positive or negative.

He added: "I haven't been sleeping well since I came out of hospital and am still worried that when I am left on my own in this new flat that real depression will set in.

"I have the worry that I still have MRSA hanging over me as some of my wound has still not healed and my test results have not come back yet.

"I keep being asked what kind of future do I see for myself and at this stage it is still too soon to answer that for certain. But what I do know is that I am going to do whatever it takes to help to stop this happening to anyone else.

"I nearly died when I was three because of mastoid disease and when I was seven I was run over by a double-decker bus. I am now on my third life and I am determined to do something positive with it."

A spokesperson for the PPI added: "We hope that Mr Turner will get in touch with us when we feels well enough to do so and once he has filled in an application form for a place on the hospital forum he will be considered by the PPI commission.

"There is no waiting list to join the forum presently so there is nothing to stop Mr Turner from joining us and helping us on our on-going hospital inspections."