A £30 million cash injection to clean up England's hospitals was being announced by Health Secretary Alan Milburn today.

The money comes as York and District Community Health Council has announced it will step up spot-checks on local hospital wards because of fears over cleanliness.

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.

She died from pneumonia and septicaemia but also caught the hospital "superbug" MRSA.

Her story prompted a flood of complaints about cleanliness at the hospital in which relatives of patients described conditions as, "appalling and horrifying".

York Health Trust responded by highlighting the steps it had already taken and was planning to take in the light of the concerns, with the help of £150,000 from the Department of Health.

Improvements include:

* Replacing all toilets seats

* Re-grouting and resealing showers and replacing shower curtains

* Replacing worn carpets

* Replacing bedside lockers at York District Hospital and community units

* Spring cleaning soft furnishings on wards and common areas

* Developing a programme to remove graffiti

* Laundering all bed curtains.

A new hotel services manager, with considerable NHS experience in providing services such as cleaning, catering and laundering, has been appointed.

The health trust also starts a new cleaning contract with the firm Initial from April.

The £30 million from the Government will be available from April. Ward sisters will have new powers over the contracting out of cleaning services and hit squads will be sent to trusts that do not pass regular inspections.

A survey published last week found that a third of hospitals failed basic hygiene checks such as clean floors and curtains in wards.

The scandal of dirty wards has contributed to the huge cost of treating infections patients acquire while in hospital.

Hospital-acquired infections kill 5,000 people and cost the health service £1 billion a year.

Updated: 11:07 Wednesday, January 17, 2001