FOUR Gwent hospital wards - including one recently refurbished as part of an improvement programme - have been given a clean bill of health following cleanliness spotchecks by inspectors.

The quartet, three at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, and one at County Hospital, Griffithstown, were examined by a Healthcare Inspectorate Wales team last month as part of an ongoing series of unannounced hospital visits Wales-wide.

Several wards at the Royal Gwent, where cleaning practices were criticised during the summer in a BBC Wales Week In Week Out documentary, are being refurbished in a programme due to continue for the rest of the year.

One of these, the trauma ward C5 West, was subject to the HIW spotcheck, and inspectors were impressed by its tidy, uncluttered appearance.

Unannounced cleanliness spotchecks were introduced by HIW two years ago in response to rising public concern, and as well as observing wards inspectors talk to nusring and ward staff and examine documents relating to the running of the wards. Maximising infection control is a key aim of the visits.

All four wards visited - Capel/Hanbury, a ward for the elderly mentally ill at County Hospital, and C5 West, the general medical ward C4 West, and the general surgical ward C7 West, all at the Royal Gwent - were reported as having good or acceptable levels of cleanliness by HIW.

Key concerns, which must be addressed by Gwent Healthcare Trust in an action plan to be published before the end of October, relate to inappropriate taps in some rooms, storage problems, torn seating and broken or damaged items that had not been replaced or repaired.

But the report noted that hand hygiene and other information relating to cleanliness and infection control is prominently displayed, and staff knowledge of these issues is good, and training in them timely.

A trust spokesman said HIW's comments had been "constructive and welcome" and "all levels of staff have shown their ongoing commitment to ensure the best possible environment for patients" which was also acknowledged in the inspection report.