SOUTHEND Hospital has been ordered to improve its standards of hygiene in the wake of an increase in infectious diseases.

The hospital was inspected following a spike in Clostridium Difficile (C.Diff) and Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

A hygeine review revealed a sluice doubling up as a clean store and that clinical and domestic cleaning was not consistent.

Sharps bins were overfilled and not discarded properly and hand hygiene was not consistent.

In addition, there were breaches of storage of hazardous waste, while equipment cleanliness was also not consistent.

Denise Townsend, chief of nursing, said: “A number of learning and practice issues have been addressed, which includes increasing our education programme for our staff and patients to ensure they understand our processes.

"We’ve also been undertaking unannounced cleaning and infection prevention and control audits in clinical areas.”