Hundreds of hospital wards are being closed and the NHS is losing £160m a year because of the lethal bug Clostridium difficile, affecting thousands of patients. It also has the problem of being an old hospital, rather than a brand spanking new building, which means it has lots of nooks and crannies and can be harder to clean.". The hospital has done everything it can to tackle this problem and people should feel safe about coming here."Sue Wiseman, the infection control adviser to the Royal College of Nursing, said: "Specialist units like Stoke Mandeville have a particular problem because they have patients being transferred from hospitals up and down the country, adding to the spread of infection. Unison would like to see hospital cleaning brought back in-house and under the direct control of staff on the wards."The cleaning contract at Stoke Mandeville was held jointly by two private companies, but next year the hospital plans to second members of staff under a new type of contract to another company which would allow it to retain responsibility for the staff and for standards of hygiene.The revelations about Stoke Mandeville also prompted some to come to its defence last night.The former television presenter and DJ Sir Jimmy Savile who is a prominent fundraiser and patron of the hospital, said: "We have known about this bug for 18 months and it is under control. In 1986, there were 67,000 full time cleaners in the health service - now there are just 36,000, the report found.Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said: "Dirt isn't cheap and the human cost is enormous. The Government and hospital managers should listen to hospital cleaners when they say what's needed is more staff, better equipment, proper training, effective teamwork and greater involvement in decision-making.

07/11 - 08/11 Capture Kenny Chesney Tickets playing in Constellation Brands Performing Arts Center, Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach. Kenny Chesney is playing in Canandaigua, Virginia Beach and Morrison. Kenny Chesney tickets

05/11 - 07/11 Acquire Maroon 5 Tickets playing in Marcus Amphitheater, 1. Maroon 5 is playing in Milwaukee, Tampa and Baltimore. Maroon 5 tickets

07/11 - 08/11 Find Train Tickets performing in Charter One Pavilion At Northerly Island, Tanglewood Music Center. Train is performing in Chicago, Lenox and Lincoln. Train tickets

difficile - which produces hardy spores that are resistant to some methods of cleaning - have raised fresh concerns about deteriorating cleanliness.The public service union Unison fuelled those fears when it warned yesterday that hospital cleaners were being told to clean as many as four wards in an hour by private companies eager to cut costs and raise profits.Chronic shortages of cleaners and a high turnover of poorly paid staff were adding to the problem of hospital infections, a report by the union said.The number of full-time cleaning staff has fallen by 45 per cent in the 20 years since services were "contracted out" of the NHS to private companies. A spokesman said the trust had broken even last year and was addressing the issues raised in the performance indicators.But the rating does not reflect well on the world-famous hospital, whose incidents of C. The trust was also told it was "significantly underachieving" in terms of financial management, a further reason for its one-star status.In its plan for 2005, the trust says that a key aim this year is to achieve two stars in the performance ratings. The Buckinghamshire Hospitals Trust was only given a "one" rating for infection control, the lowest possible mark.Only 17 other acute NHS trusts out of 177 were given a similar score, with the majority being rated as acceptable or good. The NHS trust that controls Stoke Mandeville Hospital was given the lowest possible rating for infection-control standards in a recent set of NHS performance indicators. Mr Crum sliced potatoes very thinly, cooked them until shrivelled and doused them in salt to make them inedible, in order to annoy a complaining customer.

The customer loved them and'Saratoga Chips' were born.* In 1900, Frank Smith, a north London grocer, liked a crunchy potato snack being eaten by delivery men from France so much he created his own version, selling the product in pubs in Cricklewood.* In 1953 an Irish manufacturer, Tayto, perfected the first method for making flavoured crisps, licensed it and sold the technology to the world.* On average, Britons eat 372 snacks a year.. The study found that Britons, one in five of whom are now classified as obese, are taking advice from nutritionists that nuts are a rich source of fatty acids, protein and minerals such as selenium, phosphorus and zinc.In an attempt to lure back customers, crisp and snack companies are developing ranges with added ingredients such as vitamins, Omega-3 and cholesterol-lowering plant extracts.The glory days* A Native American chef called George Crum invented the fried delicacy by accident in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1853. They are generally perceived as being predominantly high-fat, high-salt foods with comparatively few nutritional benefits."Despite the efforts of manufacturers to introduce healthier products such as rice-based snacks, consumers are refusing to be lured by so-called low-fat alternatives to the crisp.Some 26 per cent of Britons do not believe claims that the pan-fried contents of their packets are low-fat or low-calorie and prefer to ignore the titbits altogether.Mr Bird said: "Consumers see crisps as an unhealthy product and if they are dieting or adopting a healthier eating regime, they will avoid crisps completely rather than buying a healthy variant."A separate report by the research company TNS found that the sale of nuts has increased by 11.6 per cent in a year. Italy, by contrast, munches its way through just 1kg per person.But analysts at the market research company Mintel said the falling sales in Britain presaged a "persistent decline" in demand for salty snacks that will last for several years amid changing eating habits and increased competition from products such as cereal bars and dried fruit.David Bird, the author of the report, said: "Crisps and savoury snacks in particular have a real image problem.