The coroner at the inquest of Robert Clark, 76, who died at the DGH, said the $75,000 dollar question was where he picked up the Clostridium difficile (C diff) which killed him.

Mr Clark, of Harebeating Drive, Hailsham, went into the Horder Centre in Crowborough for a hip replacement on June 12 last year as a healthy man.

Surgery was straightforward but afterwards he suffered three seizures, thought to be caused by a stroke, leaving him with weakness on the right side of his body.

He was taken to Kent and Sussex Hospital in Tunbridge Wells, where he tested negatively for C diff infection, and transferred to the DGH for rehabilitation.

There he was diagnosed with severe 0207 strain C diff.

Mr Clark had his large bowel removed, which pathologist Christopher Moffat said in almost every case removed the habitat of the C diff bacteria and cured the patient.

Mr Clark also had the bacteria in his small bowel, a very rare occurence, where it remained.

A swab also revealed MRSA bacteria and the patient had around a metre of his small intestine removed.

By this point he was very unwell, with sepsis setting in in his small bowel, and was admitted to intensive care.

E coli, found naturally in the gut, had entered his bloodstream and he died on August 2. The cause of death was bronchial pneumonia and E coli, caused by ileitis, caused by colitis, due to Clostridium difficile.

Dr Moffat said if Mr Clark had not contracted the C diff, he would still be alive.

The DGH had previously not had the 0207 strain of C diff but the coroner said it could have been picked up in any of the three centres or could have been the re-emergence of an infection the deceased had four years previously.

C diff lives in the gut of five per cent of the healthy adult population but the 'good' bacteria which keep it in check can be wiped out by antibiotics given in hospital.

Mr Clark was given antibiotics at all three healthcare centres he attended.

The inquest heard the 0207 strain of C diff spread through the DGH from Mr Clark in Wilmington ward to the Hailsham Three ward.

Coroner Alan Craze said, "On the balance of probabilities, Mr Clark contracted the infection at Kent and Sussex Hospital.

"That does not leave the DGH smiling though because clearly that infection transmitted to one other person or more there.

"This shows what a dangerous organism we are dealing with."

He recorded a verdict of hospital-induced post-operative infection.