NEWS that inspectors visiting University Hospital Ayr have found equipment stained with dried blood and bodily fluids, and thick dust in patient areas, cannot fail to alarm local people.

It shows that even after years of stringent efforts to improve cleanliness and infection-control procedures in Scotland's hospitals, standards continue in some places to fall short of what patients have a right to expect.

That is not to say improvements have not been made. There have been big steps forward in hygiene and cleanliness in Scotland's hospitals, which have had a direct impact on infection levels. The rate of hospital-acquired infections like clostridium difficile (C.diff) and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has dropped significantly.

The number of people contracting C. diff infections has been cut by four-fifths since records began in 2006 and cases of MRSA reached their lowest level since 2005 last summer. These are important advances for which hospital staff, inspectors and the Scottish Government deserve credit.

This latest inspection report at University Hospital Ayr also suggests the regime of unannounced visits carried out by the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI) is working. The HEI team has brought an independence and rigour to inspections and has proved itself to be tough and outspoken.

Even so, the control of infection in hospital is a battle that must be fought relentlessly, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. One glowing inspection report will never mean a hospital has cracked the problem forever. In spite of a long-term trend of falling C.diff infections, the latest Scotland-wide figures show that last summer, C.diff infections actually rose sharply, which underlines the importance of vigilance in infection prevention.

The inspectors at Ayr found NHS Ayrshire and Arran was complying with many standards to protect patients, staff and visitors from the risk of infection, yet worrying breaches were found, particularly in the standards of cleaning in the accident and emergency department.

Sharps trays, trolleys, intravenous drip stands and bed frames were found to be contaminated with blood and bodily fluids. The inspection team also found staff needed to improve their knowledge of how to deal with blood spillages.

The inspection report shows pictures of clinical waste bins streaked with blood; the team had watched a porter empty the bin without wearing protective clothing. Altogether, the team pointed to six improvements that they said must to be made.

The hospital management made improvements, which should be some comfort to patients, though on a return visit the inspectors found further attention to detail was needed. Those being treated at the hospital and their relatives will want to know, however, that the improvements do not prove to be temporary, and that bad habits will not reassert themselves once the inspectors have moved on. There is simply no room for such sub-standard practice in the fight against hospital-acquired infections.