JOHNSON: CLEAN HOSPITALS A PRIORITY

Mr Johnson and Chief Nursing Officer Christine Beasley will set out how managers should implement the "deep cleaning" of wards as promised by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Measures include scrubbing floors, washing soft furnishings and cleaning trolleys.

The initiative comes as the Health Protection Agency (HPA) unveiled new figures on rates of Clostridium difficile and MRSA.

The Conservatives attacked the Government last week over the £50 million plan for deep cleaning after ministers acknowledged it would not be monitored centrally. The Tories said it was the "worst kind of government by gimmick" after it emerged local health authorities would oversee the ward-by-ward scrub.

Mr Johnson will address around 250 NHS executive directors of nursing and midwifery at the Chief Nursing Officer's annual conference in London.

He will say: "Cleanliness cannot be an optional extra, it must be our first demand.

"Last month, we changed the uniform rules to insist that all staff are bare below the elbows, to ensure rigorous handwashing and high levels of hygiene.

"Last week, we set out plans to create a tough new regulator with new powers to investigate, impose fines and close down entire wards if strict standards of cleanliness are not adhered to.

"Today, we will issue instructions to all NHS directors on the need to improve cleanliness and infection control based on the measures we have introduced."