Many NHS hospitals are failing to meet minimum levels of hygiene, a new report has found.
According to research by the Healthcare Commission (HC), one in four NHS trusts (40 per cent) has not achieved basic levels of cleanliness - exposing patients to superbugs such as MRSA and C. difficile.
The NHS watchdog also found 14 per cent of trusts had failed to reduce the risk of infection - up from seven per cent last year.
Meanwhile, the same percentage of trusts said they could not say they had decontaminated equipment properly.
The HC has said that trusts had recognised in an "open and honest way" that they need to do more to improve standards.
The news was met with criticism by Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb who described the situation as "wholly unacceptable".
"There has to be a cultural change within hospitals. Three-quarters of hospitals are successfully implementing effective measures - there is no excuse for others not to follow.
"There has to be a zero tolerance approach to tackling superbugs. It is shocking that after countless government initiatives the number of hospitals failing to protect patients from these infections has doubled," he added.
Recent figures released by the Office of National Statistics showed the number of death certificates in England and Wales mentioning MRSA had climbed by nearly 40 per cent to 1,629 between 2004 and 2005.
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