A FORMER nurse who went into Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital for a routine operation died eight days later from the effects of a superbug.

Former nurse Jeanette Morton, 71, died after being diagnosed with c difficile in the days after her hernia operation.

Her brother, Stewart Holtom, 58, said his sister's death prompted hospital bosses to close the D5 West ward, where she was staying, for a deep clean.

Mrs Morton, herself a former nurse at the Royal Gwent Hospital, was diagnosed with a hernia and admitted to hospital on June 13. She had an operation three weeks ago and eight days later she began experiencing severe stomach problems.

She was put on antibiotics and doctors ran tests before diagnosing her with c difficile.

"She came back to the ward crying, she was really distressed," said Mr Holtom, of Lloyd Street, Lliswerry.

Mrs Morton, who lived in Hollybush, Cwmbran, was told the infection had attack her kidneys and liver and she died in hospital in the early hours of last Friday with multi organ failure.

Mr Holtom said: "I was fuming, she was getting better after her operation then she was going downhill rapidly. It was hard to see, one minute she's walking around the ward then she's laid in bed. I've nothing against the nurses, they were fantastic."

Mr Holtom, a tug boat master, said her death certificate lists multiple organ failure and c difficile.

A spokesman for the Aneurin Bevan Health Board said while patients are routinely screened for MRSA, they are currently not screened for C difficile.

He added: "Due to patient confidentiality it would be inappropriate to comment on the specific details of individual patients.

"However, we would wish to offer our sincere condolences to Mrs Morton's family and will be contacting them to offer any further information or support they require."

The health board has seen a decrease in the number of c difficile cases this year - there were 286 in the first six months of 2010 compared with 225 in the same period this year.

The spokesman said D5 West was closed for seven days and deep cleaned as part the Infection Control programme but is now re-open.

Mrs Mortons' funeral is on Tuesday at the Gwent Crematorium and Mr Holtom said is is registering a formal complaint with the hospital.