HOSPITAL staff in Gwent have turned to an alcohol-based gel to help combat the spread of infection on wards - and visitors are also being encouraged to use it.

The gel kills germs when rubbed into the hands and then evaporates.

Dispensers will be installed at bedsides in the area's hospitals during the next few months.

And for situations where it is not safe to have alcohol-based products around, such as when dealing with children or confused patients, staff will be issued with portable dispensers to attach to uniforms.

The moves are part of the never-ending fight to stay one step ahead of infections, from those causing disruptive outbreaks of diarrhoea and vomiting, to potentially fatal superbugs like MRSA.

Assembly health minister Jane Hutt tried out the gel during a visit to Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital to launch of a £260,000 strategy designed to reduce incidents of healthcare-associated infections in Wales.

Gwent Healthcare Trust has invested in the issue over several years and has one of the biggest infection control teams in Wales, if not the United Kingdom.

Anne Marie Weller, head of the infection control team, said one aim is to encourage patients and their visitors, as well as staff, to use the gel to clean their hands.

The gel is quicker and easier to use than soap, primarily because hands do not need to be dried after use. But soap still has its vital place in the infection control process.

"We still advise the use of soap if staff have been performing tasks where their hands become dirty," said Mrs Weller.