Asking if a doctor with lots of letters after their name have washed their hands may not seem like the easiest thing to do.

But staff at Mayday Hospital say that is the key to combating the infections and deadly hospital superbugs.

"We rely on patients getting involved and asking the health professional if they have washed their hands," said Michael Dickson, director of nursing at the London Road hospital.

The campaign is a crucial reminder of how something so simple can do so much.

When speaking to Michael, he immediately challenged me - wanting to know when I had last washed my hands. In most circumstances such a question, asked so soon after meeting, would most certainly be described as rude. But in this case it got me thinking. Had I not have washed my hands as part of an experiment at the hospital then the last time would have been at least two hours ago.

Michael rightly pointed out that in the medical profession several patients can be dealt with in this short time frame.

"Hand hygiene saves life," he said, "It's as simple as that. The one thing we have really engaged in here at Mayday is infection control. We have made it everyone's day job.

"If the medical staff do not wash their hands when dealing with patients then we might as well not give them any medication or pills."

MRSA is perhaps the best known of the superbugs. Despite missing a 50 per cent reduction target, cases at the hospital continue to fall. Mayday said it had 48 cases of MRSA last year But Mayday said MRSA is not necessarily the most common. Others like clostridium difficile, or the C-dif infection, can be worse.

Mayday's marker of quality revolves around how well infections are contained because many are brought into the hospital.

Michael said the hospital recently closed one of its wards after an outbreak of diarrhoea to avoid spreading infections.

Ashley Flores, senior nurse of infection control at Mayday, trains staff how to wash their hands correctly. White powder is poured on hands before it is rubbed in and then washed in the normal way. A machine known as the Glo Germ uses ultra violet light to highlights areas you have missed. It is shockingly revealing how easy it is to miss dirt or worse, harmful bacteria.

With money from the Government, Mayday plans to reconfigure one of the wards to increase the number of side rooms, improve handwashing facilities and introduce more disposable bed pans.

"I think we're doing very well indeed at the moment but there's always more we can do," said Michael, summing up the challenge that lies ahead: "It is achievable, it is just hard work."