EAST Lancashire's hospitals are still "dirty, tatty and dusty" months after bosses pledged to clean them up, it was revealed today.

And watchdogs who went to one ward after it was highlighted as an MRSA risk by the Evening Telegraph said lessons hadn't been learned.

The report was compiled by The Patient and Public Involvement Forum and was based on inspections of Blackburn Infirmary, Queen's Park Hospital and Burnley General over several months.

It revealed that vital guidelines to prevent killer bugs, such as the deadly MRSA, spreading are still not being followed, with doctors observed treating patients without washing their hands.

Five months after the Evening Telegraph reported that serious breaches of Queen's Park Hospital's supposedly stringent hygiene regime were taking place on ward C6, spot checks have shown that orders to improve have not been carried out.

A report by the Trust indicates that action is now being taken on many of the concerns but the forum will now draw up a new schedule of visits and expects to see big improvements. .

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust chief executive Jo Cubbon, who admitted some wards were dirty three months ago, today said it was important that staff, patients and health watchdogs continued to work together to improve standards.

Forum leaders said the lack of cleanliness could increase patients' chances of acquiring infections.

Members found rusty old beds and dilapidated wards were still common place - with one bathroom windowsill covered in smelly pigeon droppings. Forum members said they would not want to be a patient on the wards they visited.

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust bosses have repeatedly promised to improve standards of cleanliness to ensure the chance of infections are minimal, but forum members found scant improvement.

In August the Evening Telegraph revealed MRSA patient Heather Draper, from Church, was being treated on general medical ward C6, which was dirty.

The revelation prompted health chiefs to admit that the "hand-washing message" was not getting through to every member of the public or staff.

But an unannounced visit to the ward by the forum last month revealed:

o Consultants seeing patient after patient without washing hands inbetween.

o A side ward had a stop notice on the door because the patient inside had shown signs of MRSA, yet the door had been left open so the sign was not visible.

o Rusty beds were in use, despite requests from the forum that they be replaced.

o One patient told forum members that their side ward had been cleaned only once in six days.

o Another patient reported that their were no toilet rolls in the bathroom.

o The bathroom was cluttered and the bath was cracked.

Sixty nine MRSA cases were reported by the Trust between April 2004 and March 2005, six cases more than the previous year. There were 25 cases between April and September this year, one down on the same period last year.

In September, Trust chief executive Jo Cubbon admitted some patients were treated on dirty wards after Hyndburn councillor Paul Barton blasted hygiene at Queen's Park Hospital where he saw another patient's blood on the bed and monitor as his wife gave birth.

Forum vice- chairman John Amos said: "It's disappointing to see we did raise all these points and they were not addressed as we would have expected them to be.

"There was some improvement but not as much as we would have hoped for.

"We are never going to create a totally sterile environment but everything practical needs to be done to do that."

Mr Amos said there were connections between hospital acquired infections and "these areas of cleanliness in hand washing and old beds that have been there for 30 years" and that there have been incidents when it's proved that nursing staff are the carriers of infection.

But he added that members of the public also had a responsibility to ensure they washed their hands.

Trust Clinical Care and Governance acting director Lynn Wissett admitted that cracked bath tiles and pigeon droppings were "unacceptable."

Jo Cubbon, chief executive of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "I think it is very important that we continue to work with members of the Patient and Public Involvement Forum, patients and the general public to continually improve standards.

"We welcome feedback on these important issues."