AN angry hospital visitor has said there is still not enough emphasis on hand washing at Wycombe Hospital, despite pledges to crack down on killer bugs.

Mary Woodman, 66, of Maybrook Gardens, High Wycombe, was horrified that hospital staff did not ask her to wash her hands before visiting a sick friend last week.

She also claims to have seen members of staff enter a ward and walk straight past the hand washing station, in spite of the high profile campaign Bucks NHS Hospital Trust has been running.

A national campaign group, MRSA Support, claims ten patients at Wycombe Hospital died from the MRSA hospital superbug in a six month period in 2004.

The trust has never confirmed this figure, however trust spokesman Mark Purcell said in 2004 that Wycombe had one of the ten lowest MRSA rates in the country and always encouraged its staff to ask patients to wash their hands before entering a ward.

Mrs Woodman said she asked a member of staff on the ward if she could see her friend and was told to leave her flowers behind but go straight ahead, with no mention of hand washing.

She said: "They seem to be very hot on allergies but not so hot on hygiene."

Mrs Woodman remembered she hadn't washed her hands and had to walk back along the corridor to find the hand washing station, immediately on the right after the double doors.

She added: "There was a sign above each bottle of hand wash but it wasn't as prominent as in other hospitals I have visited where they put big signs on the doors before you enter the ward to wash your hands.

"Just last week there was something in the news about a new or a more virulent strain of MRSA being found in hospitals. It's no wonder is it?"

When one of our reporters, Lucinda Adam, visited the maternity ward at Christmas she was not asked to wash her hands either.

We contacted Bucks NHS Hospital Trust, but the trust's press office was still looking into the matter.