Medical staff in Bradford are ahead of the game when it comes to shunning clothing which could contribute to the spread of deadly hospital superbugs.

Staff who work for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which manages St Luke's Hospital and Bradford Royal Infirmary, are already encouraged to abandon ties and clothes such as white coats when conducting ward rounds in the fight against MRSA.

Shunning the neckwear - which, despite being often worn, is "rarely cleaned" - was among several recommendations put forward by the British Medical Association (BMA) to fight the menace which contributes to the deaths of thousands of patients across the UK.

A spokesman for Bradford Teaching Hospitals said: "When doing ward rounds, doctors are encouraged to wear short-sleeved shirts or if wearing a long-sleeved shirt, to roll up the cuffs.

"The wearing of jewellery or wrist watches is not allowed, except for a wedding band.

"They are actively encouraged not to wear a tie at all, but if they do they must tuck it into a shirt."

He said some staff have already taken measures one step further by opting to wear theatre gowns when doing ward rounds.

"When staff are washing their work clothes at home they are told to wash them at 60 degrees C to ensure adequate sterilisation," he said.

The Trust's corporate strategy also states it is looking at getting the staff to only wear uniforms in the hospital to reduce the risk of transferring infections to patients.

Other recommendations from the BMA include the regular washing of hands - something only 40 per cent of doctors do on a regular basis, said Dr Robert Spencer, chairman of the Hospital Infection Society. And visitors suffering from any form of infection - even a simple cold - should stay away from hospitals and "fragile" patients, the authors of the report said.

The recommendations came from the BMA's Board of Science, which investigated the "dramatic" rise of Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs), which include MRSA.

It found that there was between a nine and ten per cent chance that people who were admitted into medical care in England would contract some form of HCAI.

The BMA said this figure could be reduced by 15 per cent if its advice was adopted, providing the NHS with a saving of £150 million a year.

HCAIs contribute to the deaths of up to 5,000 people in the UK every year, and they cost the NHS up to £1 billion annually.

Bradford has one of the worst MRSA infection rates in the country, according to Department of Health data published recently.

The number of MRSA blood-stream infections reported by Bradford Teaching Hospitals from April to September last year ranks it 159th worst out of the 173 acute trusts in the country.

The Trust has a target to have fewer than 36 cases for the year ending March 31 but for the six-month period between April and September there were 36 reported cases of MRSA from the city's hospitals - St Luke's and Bradford Royal Infirmary - a rate of 0.27 per 1,000 bed days.

"In terms of clothing Bradford Teaching Hospitals is already taking steps to encourage staff to develop new ways of working," said a spokesman for the Trust.

"And while this is important it is just one of a number of steps being taken to reduce hospital-acquired infections.

"The washing of hands, the use of alcohol gels and enhancing the role the public play are also important."