Nurses at Airedale Hospital are urging patients to ask them about their cleanliness in the fight against MRSA.

Staff at the Steeton hospital are telling patients that "it's OK to ask" them if they have washed their hands as part of a drive by the National Patient Safety Agency to reduce the spread of healthcare associated infections.

Pat Sagar, senior nurse at Airedale NHS Trust, said: "One of the best ways to prevent the spread of infection is for staff to wash their hands with soap and water or cleanse with alcohol gel after every contact they have with a patient.

"We want also to encourage our patients to ask our staff if they have done that. Some of our staff will be wearing badges saying 'It's OK to ask' in the hope that patients feel confident in the hygiene standards maintained by our doctors, nurses and other health professionals who come on to our wards and departments.

"We are also encouraging all the visitors on entering and leaving the wards to wash or cleanse their hands too. Everyone has a part to play to help keep our patients safe."

There is hand gel, which kills 99 per cent of germs in 30 seconds, by the side of every bed and at the entrance of every ward in the hospital. In some areas staff will even wear bottles of alcohol gel on their belts.

Mrs Sagar added: "A nurse in a ward or an intensive care unit could be expected to wash or cleanse their hands anything up to 40 times an hour.

"We want to show our patients that our staff are committed to excellent standards of cleanliness and hygiene and are doing their best to prevent the potential spread of infection in this way."

Infections are not caused by dirt but by viruses or bacteria that occur naturally -- most of which are harmless. But during illness or after an operation the body's natural defences are weaker. Getting an infection in hospital might mean staying longer while it is treated. Some bacteria -- like MRSA -- are difficult to fight with antibiotics because they have developed a resistance.