More than 40 hospitals risk failing a new registration test unless they improve hygiene standards in the next 10 months.

When the new Care Quality Commission comes into operation in April 2009, it will impose minimum standards that all hospitals must achieve in order to be allowed to treat patients.

Figures published today by the Healthcare Commission show that more than 100 NHS trusts - including 41 hospitals - admit failing to meet at least one of these hygiene standards in the year up to March 31.

Until now, this has been a black mark and has affected their position in the commission’s annual ratings. But, after next April, it could in principle prevent a hospital operating at all.

“These trusts risk not being registered in April 2009,” said Anna Walker, chief executive of the commission. “They need to improve to meet the hygiene code as it moves to becoming a requirement.

“In practice, it’s unlikely to mean they won’t be allowed to operate. It is possible for them to be registered with conditions. But these conditions will be made public."

She said it would be a “real failure” if any trust was unable to register with the new regulator because it could not meet standards on hygiene.

“What we are saying is this is a wake-up call,” she said. “It’s 10 months before this formal registration.”

Today’s figures, which are the trusts’ own self-assessments of whether they met the standards, show a small improvement on most measures when compared to last year’s, but many admit they did not meet them all.

More than a quarter (26 per cent) declared non-compliance with one or more aspects of the hygiene code, compared to 25 per cent in 2006-07. In part, said Ms Walker, this was because in some respects the standards had been clarified and toughened, so that trusts realised they were not meeting them, and admitted so.

Thirty-five trusts could not say they complied with standards on infection control, 70 could not meet requirements on decontaminating equipment and 21 could not hit targets on hygiene control and the upkeep of buildings.

Overall, just 39.4 per cent of trusts (154 out of 391) could say they met 100 per cent of the Government’s requirements for the NHS, down slightly on the 40.1 per cent figure for the year before.

Primary Care Trusts, which run community hospitals and provide nurses and health visitors, did especially poorly, with 37 per cent failing to meet compliance with one or more aspects of the hygiene code.

Among acute trusts (hospitals), 91 per cent said they complied with the standard on infection control, and 92 per cent with that on cleanliness, but fewer (86 per cent) met the standard on decontaminating instruments safely.

This was a sharp drop compared with 2006-07, largely because the commission has spelt out more clearly what needs to be done to meet this standard. The use of bench-top sterilisers, for example, is not prohibited but is frowned upon as unsafe, and during the year two trusts were issued with improvement notices relating to this.

The data released today is the trusts’ own assessment of how well they have done. The commission will audit them by inspecting 20 per cent of trusts - 12.5 per cent where its own information and data suggests that particular trusts may be exaggerating, and another 7.5 per cent chosen at random just to keep the NHS on its toes.

Last year these inspections did lead to downgrading of nine hospital trusts and four primary care trusts who were found not to have met standards they claimed to have met.

Three failed the standard on decontamination: Torbay Care Trust, Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery, and West Kent Primary Care Trust.

Two more failed on cleanliness: Southend University Hospital and University Hospital of North Staffordshire; and two on patient privacy and confidentiality: West Hertfordshire Hospital and Weston Area Health NHS Trust.

Ben Bradshaw, the Health Minister, said: “We welcome this year’s findings, which show a dramatic fall in the number of trusts that are reporting serious non-compliance from 15 to four. This improvement is a great tribute to the hard work of NHS staff.

“We are also pleased that infection control is showing significant improvement - reflecting the importance both the Government and public place on this.”

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