Hospital warned on hygiene

A TOP London hospital was today issued with an official warning after breaching hygiene standards on superbugs.

Homerton University Hospital in Hackney is the first foundation trust to be handed an urgent improvement notice.

A spot-check by inspectors from the Healthcare Commission watchdog found breaches including dirty bedpans marked "ready for use". The trust also failed to inform its board that only six out of 10 staff were cleaning their hands properly. The board was also told that attendance at hygiene training was "acceptable" when turnout was low, and only a third of audits to monitor hygiene control were completed.

The trust's infection rates for Clostridium difficile and MRSA are lower than the national average. But the watchdog's head of operational development, Marcia Fry, said: '"Systems need to be in place to keep infection to a minimum."