STAFF on Manchester's mental health wards have been told to clean up their act after two units were named as amongst the dirtiest in Britain.

The Edale Unit and York House, based at the Manchester Royal Infirmary were rated as among the worst in the country when Patient Environment Action Teams did spot checks in July.

The two wards, deemed "unacceptable", were named today in a Department of Health blacklist of 27 hospitals found to be either poor or unsatisfactory for cleanliness.

The report comes as new guidance is issued to hospitals in the campaign to clean up dirty wards and kill off superbugs.

Firms hired to improve hygiene will be told to clean up their act - or get booted out.

New contracts will spell out how often beds, toilets, floors and even the clipboards used by doctors must be cleaned.

A Dept of Health spokesman said such measures should be routine, but in some hospitals they were not.

Progress

A drive against superbugs like MRSA has improved the situation in many hospitals, but a handful around the country are still listed as "below standard".

Health ministers will report progress in their bid to reduce the number of people who pick up hospital infections.

The number has risen from just over 1,000 in 1996 to more than 7,000 last year.

This is regarded as epidemic level and Health Secretary Dr John Reid ordered hospitals to halve the rates of MRSA bloodstream infection by March 2008 to avoid up to 5,000 deaths a year.

PEAT have been carrying out snap inspections in hospitals and about 90 out of the 1,140 they visited were rated as poor or unacceptable. The PEAT teams ordered the worst hospitals to take action and it is believed one in four have improved.

A spokeswoman for Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust said the two units had now benefited from '65,000 worth of improvements in a major "deep clean" to replace worn carpets, curtains and soft furnishings.

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