A new drive to tackle the "superbug" in NHS hospitals has been launched by ministers.

Health secretary John Reid joined the chief medical officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson, to announce new procedures to fight MRSA.

Every NHS trust will get infection control teams with a designated director to ensure improvements are made.

Reid claimed the problem had in part been caused by the continued use of antibiotics over decades.

The biggest of these is methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus which is immune to antibiotics.

NHS staff will be urged to fight the problem by going back to basics.

Infection control teams will ensure staff follow tried and trusted techniques for cutting infection rates through frequent handwashing and disinfection.

Reid warned hospitals would have to step up procedures.

"We've got to do better than we're doing," Reid said.

"The rules of hygiene that should apply in every area of life are particularly important in hospitals."

The health secretary also announced £3 million will be spent on research into the bug.

Figures released by the Department of Health revealed 100,000 people a year pick up some form of infection while in hospital.

The cost to the NHS is estimated by officials to have reached £1 billion per year.

"The greatest concern is, of course, the illness and death that result from these infections, but the economic costs are also high, and provide a compelling reason to reduce the number and severity of these infections," Reid said.

Reid explained why bug had been having such a massive impact in hospitals.

"What's happening here is that many of these micro organisms that are causing these problems are actually all around us in everyday life. But in hospital where people are weak, people are more liable to being infected," he said.

The initiative coincides with the announcement by Sir Liam Donaldson of the latest rates of MRSA infections across individual NHS trusts.

It followed the announcement of a £12 million drive to tackle hospital-acquired infections.

The figures for the first half of last year showed that 3,500 people in England were struck down with MRSA.

Opposition parties rounded on the government following the release of the figures.

Shadow health secretary, Tim Yeo, questioned why the government had taken so long to take action.

"We have been calling on the government to act for several years," he said.

"It remains to be seen if their proposals do not just create more managers in the NHS but deliver what is really needed: improved hygiene practices at ward level."

He also questioned why 15 hospital trusts were awarded green status for cleanliness by the Department of Health despite being among the 20 worst offenders for MRSA.

"These figures undermine the credibility of the Department of Health's ratings system. The system is ludicrous and should be scrapped," said Yeo.

The Liberal Democrat health spokesman Paul Burstow claimed the government should take a share of the blame for the problem.

"Ministers have failed to give the NHS the tools it needs to combat the spread of infection. Appointing a director of hygiene misses the point," he said.

"The clean hospital programme should be prosecuted under the trade description act. It is nothing of the sort.

"It is giving patients and families a false sense of security that the government is on top of the superbug problem when ministers have not even begun to tackle the virus."