SUPERBUGS in Southampton's hospitals have set back a second attempt by health bosses to apply for foundation status and break free from Government control.

The number of cases of MRSA reported in the last year, while cut from 57 to 36, broke a Government target forcing the Southampton University Hospitals Trust (SUHT) to defer its bid.

The trust launched a 12-week consultation at the end of last year to gauge public support which drew 356 responses. It has also signed up 12,000 potential "members" of the new foundation trust.

It would give health chiefs more control over their finances and allow members to have a say over how the trust is run. But while Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust were among those given the nod by the secretary of state to apply, Southampton now plans to try again in November.

SUHT was among the first wave of trusts bidding for foundation status in 2004 but withdrew after realising it was set to lose the three-star rating needed to qualify. It is now rated as providing "good" services and "fair" use of resources under a new rating.

Chief executive Mark Hackett said: "We're now back on track with our MRSA target and our application is proceeding.

"These things sometimes happen during the process but we're confident we will become a foundation trust next year.

"In the meantime we have a bit more time to strengthen our governance arrangements by recruiting members and generating interest in our members' council."

Thirteen members of the public will be allowed to join the 24- seat council.

Unison, the union, is opposing the move which it argues undermines the principles of NHS, amounts to "backdoor privatisation", will create an internal market and increase inequalities.

David Prout, a spokesman for Southampton's Unison health branch, called the latest set back an "an indictment of how the trust is run."

He said the consultation response showed the majority of public wasn't that interested.

"What they want is clean working hospitals where staff are professional and know what they are doing," he said.

He added the "members" figures weren't that impressive when the trust had 7,500 staff and their families to draw on.

There are now 92 foundation trusts in operation across England, including nearby Salisbury, Dorset, Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch hospitals, Basingstoke and North Hampshire.