Health watchdogs in York plan to step up checks on hospital wards and other NHS buildings as part of a "clean-up" campaign.

Members of York and District Community Health Council intend more visits with minimal notice, and are considering making resultant reports public.

The move comes amid growing concern, with a national report claiming a third of NHS hospitals were "filthy", and a major blitz on dirty hospitals ordered by the Government.

The Evening Press has highlighted the concerns of Elvington woman Sheridan Stead, who believes hygiene and nursing problems at York District Hospital contributed to the death of her mother, Joan Hargreaves.

Mrs Hargreaves died in York District Hospital from pneumonia and septicaemia. She also caught the hospital "superbug" MRSA, though doctors do not believe this contributed to her death.

Edna Mulhearn, secretary of the York Health Services branch of UNISON, said morale was low because of negative publicity.

She said: "The actual number of complaints is very small compared to the number of people who are treated. You've got to appreciate that staffing levels aren't as good as they should be and I blame the last Government for that."

She said the present Government was doing good work but improvements would take time.

"I think the expectations of the public are high. They expect more from the NHS than we can physically give with the staffing levels.

"In terms of cleanliness, I would say you get what you pay for. The time the cleaners have to clean the wards is not adequate to do the job properly." Alison Sayers, chairwoman of the Royal College of Nursing, York branch, said: "I think the domestics find it very difficult to get into the wards to clean because of the open visiting times between 10am and late at night.

"As far as the nurses being under pressure, I think for the last couple of years all the staff have been, because of the increase in the throughput of patients, and trying to get waiting lists down."

York District Hospital and Bootham Park Hospital in York and St Monica's Hospital in Easingwold last autumn received good cleanliness scores following a surprise inspection.

Community Health Council chief officer Mike Harvey said hygiene complaints had fallen since he started work last summer, but that did not mean there was no problem. The CHC was considering increasing visits. More would be made with minimal notice, and they were also considering making their reports public.

A hospital Trust spokeswoman said: "The trust has already taken, and will continue to take, steps to ensure standards of cleanliness and hygiene are of the highest standard and are maintained.

"Improvements have been, and continue to be, carried out in patient areas...these include replacing all toilets seats; re-grouting and resealing showers and replacing shower curtains; replacing worn carpets; replacing bedside lockers...spring cleaning soft furnishings on wards and common areas; developing a programme to remove graffiti and laundering all bed curtains.

"So far many public areas of York District Hospital and all ward corridors have been redecorated, and spring cleaning of hospital entrances and gardens of all Trust properties is under way. Several Trust premises have already been inspected by a national expert team last August....scoring three out of four overall - and a second unannounced visit is due before the end of February. York is above average and the inspection reports have given a clear indication of the route to further improvement. The cleaning contract will soon carry a higher quality standard.

"We have also appointed a new hotel services manager whose considerable NHS experience....will complement our other initiatives aimed at raising standards and patient satisfaction. The Trust is very happy to co-operate with the CHC as it has always done, in any way that would be helpful and informative."

Updated: 11:01 Monday, January 15, 2001