HOSPITAL managers still have some way to go to improve cleanliness, a health watchdog has warned.

Members of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust Patient and Public Involvement Forum who carried out inspections at three West Kent hospitals found several were clean and tidy, while others were still dirty and cluttered.

Of the two wards members visited at Maidstone Hospital, Culpepper Ward was found to be very untidy, cluttered and had poor hygiene, while the other, Foster Clark, was very tidy and gave the impression of being very clean, although it was also due to be deep cleaned soon.

A brief look at A&E found that, despite being very busy, it was also generally clean and tidy.

The worst ward inspected was the children’s ward at Pembury Hospital, where members were disappointed with the “obvious poor standard of cleanliness”.

Live insects were noted on the floor; the toilets were dirty and the alcohol gel dispenser was at the bottom of the stairs with no notice.

But the post natal Victoria Ward and both gynaecology wards at the hospital were generally clean and tidy, with some improvements having been made since the forum’s 2006 visit.

At the Kent and Sussex Hospital, the inspection found the wards, including A&E, satisfactory, but improvements due to the age of the buildings were recommended.

Forum chairman David Herbert said: “These inspections were limited in scope...however, the findings do suggest the trust has more to do to achieve uniform and consistently high standards across the trust.”

The forum recommended a range of improvements, and Mr Herbert stressed that it was important for the trust to look closely at its management and supervision of domestic cleaning.

The inspections followed visits by the Healthcare Commission to Maidstone Hospital and the Kent and Sussex earlier this month, which reported cleanliness had improved at both. They followed a report by the commission which revealed 90 patients with the C-diff superbug had died during two outbreaks in hospitals run by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

A patients’ survey, also carried out by the forum, found the majority of patients were happy with their care and appreciative of the nursing staff.

However the survey of 72 patients leaving Maidstone and Kent and Sussex hospitals also felt some nursing levels were insufficient.

Mr Herbert added: “Responses suggest that patients have fewer concerns about standards of hygiene and cleanliness than might be expected and are generally complimentary about nurses and standards of nursing care.”

He said, although the forum recognised the problems of recruiting experienced nurses, it wanted efforts to recruit accelerated.