Two hospital cleaners dismissed

Two cleaners at a Birmingham hospital have been sacked after an investigation into poor standards of hygiene was prompted by a BBC documentary.

An undercover Panorama reporter found basic rules, put in place to combat the spread of conditions like MRSA, were being broken at Heartlands Hospital.

Cleaners were witnessed using a single bucket of water to clean a whole ward.

The sacked pair are employed by Initial Hospital Services. Eight other cleaners have received warnings.

Chief executive of Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, Mark Goldman, told BBC WM: "Initial, who provide the cleaning services here at Heartlands Hospital, have been through a full disciplinary process.

"Two of their staff have now been dismissed.

"Other staff were taken off the site immediately after the (Panorama) programme and have been retrained.

"And at least one other person also went through the disciplinary procedure, but was considered not to merit dismissal and has also been through retraining."

He added that the trust had made certain agreements with Initial and enhanced its own monitoring of the performance of its cleaners.