Deep clean work misses target

The NHS is set to miss its target to deep clean all the hospitals in England by the end of March.

Ministers say 93% of trusts will have completed the process by the end of Monday, with the rest soon to follow.

But the Tories said it was a shambles as not all the money promised to cover the costs of cleaning has materialised.

A total of £60m has been spent on cleaning but the Tories say just £15.6m has gone to hospitals to pay for it.

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. Some SHAs were unable to provide figures.

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.

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