Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson has accused politicians and health bosses of "tinkering" with the problem of superbugs.
Sir Richard, recently appointed as vice-president of the Patients Association, is calling for all hospital staff to be screened for MRSA and receive immediate treatment if infected.
He also wants managers at failing NHS trusts to be fired.
Infection rates for MRSA are falling across the UK with the most recent quarterly figures showing a 33 per cent drop year on year, but Sir Richard is calling for more to be done.
The entrepreneur - whose daughter Holly is a doctor - said: "There have been some improvements, but the facts speak for themselves - and the facts are still horrific.
"It feels like they have tinkered with the problem rather than really got to the heart of the problem. The hospitals are there to cure people. They are not there to kill people."
He said the NHS could learn from the airline industry about how to avoid mistakes and improve.
"In the airline industry if we had that kind of track record we would have been grounded years ago," he said.
"In the airline industry if there is an adverse event that information is sent out to every airline in the world.
"And every airline makes absolutely certain that that adverse event doesn't happen twice."
A spokesman for the Department of Health in England said: "The government is taking tough actions in the fight against infections.
"These include stringent hand-washing across the NHS, doubling the number of matrons and giving them greater powers to enforce cleanliness standards, and screening admitted patients for MRSA.
"These are clearly making an impact as we have halved MRSA infections since 2003/04 and C difficile infections are down 35 per cent on the same quarter last year."
He also wants managers at failing NHS trusts to be fired.
Infection rates for MRSA are falling across the UK with the most recent quarterly figures showing a 33 per cent drop year on year, but Sir Richard is calling for more to be done.
The entrepreneur - whose daughter Holly is a doctor - said: "There have been some improvements, but the facts speak for themselves - and the facts are still horrific.
"It feels like they have tinkered with the problem rather than really got to the heart of the problem. The hospitals are there to cure people. They are not there to kill people."
He said the NHS could learn from the airline industry about how to avoid mistakes and improve.
"In the airline industry if we had that kind of track record we would have been grounded years ago," he said.
"In the airline industry if there is an adverse event that information is sent out to every airline in the world.
"And every airline makes absolutely certain that that adverse event doesn't happen twice."
A spokesman for the Department of Health in England said: "The government is taking tough actions in the fight against infections.
"These include stringent hand-washing across the NHS, doubling the number of matrons and giving them greater powers to enforce cleanliness standards, and screening admitted patients for MRSA.
"These are clearly making an impact as we have halved MRSA infections since 2003/04 and C difficile infections are down 35 per cent on the same quarter last year."
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