IT'S often been said that hospitals can make you ill as well as better.

When many people who are frail and sick are put in the same building you don't have to be a doctor to realise that there is a chance of some patients contracting illnesses they didn't have when they were admitted.

But having said that the spread of the potentially fatal superbug MRSA in the past few years is extremely worrying.

Today we hear that 18 people in Blackburn are reported to have been infected with it last year and in Burnley about 20 cases of the bug are being reported every quarter - including in the past years some babies.

And a national government-backed campaign has been announced to put disinfectant alcohol rubs beside every patient by next April.

The rubs, it is said, will help busy doctors and nurses cut the risk of spreading infection. Patients will apparently also be "encouraged to ask staff whether they have washed their hands."

Such hygiene practices should be a basic part of every health professional's routine and it is alarming that our rates of bugs like MRSA are higher than in other European countries.

In the relentless drive to treat more and more people on tighter and tighter budgets fundamentals like cleanliness must remain a priority.