Hospital deep cleaning 'a shambles'

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Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed that only about a quarter of the cash allocated by the Government appears to have reached frontline teams.

Strategic health authorities (SHAs) can only confirm that £15.6 million (27% of the original £57.5 million) has definitely been given to local NHS trusts to pay for deep cleaning, the Tories said.

Some SHAs were unable to provide figures but the data also suggested SHAs have kept back at least £12.8 million that should have been passed on to NHS trusts.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced plans last September for every NHS hospital to be scrubbed in a bid to tackle bugs like MRSA and Clostridium difficile.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson said earlier this year he expected all 1,500 hospitals in England to have deep cleaning finished by the end of March.

However, there is no central monitoring of the programme to check how many hospitals will have finished by Monday's deadline.

The Tories claimed that NHS trusts have had to find at least £22.8 million from their own pockets. The deep cleaning programme is also over budget by at least 18%, or £10.6 million, they said.

Health Minister Ben Bradshaw said: "Once again the Tories have got their numbers wrong. Over £62 million from trust surpluses has been spent on a successful round of hospital deep-cleans.

"Deep-cleans are immensely popular with patients, the public and hospital staff. Far from being a 'gimmick', they are one of a series of initiatives we have delivered to make our hospitals cleaner and safer."