A HEALTH board has been given three months to improve infection control procedures after inspectors found staff were leaving doors to isolation rooms open.

An unannounced inspection by Healthcare Improvement Scotland at Monklands Hospital in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, on September 12 found the doors to six isolation rooms, where patients are accommodated because they pose a risk of infection, had been left open.

In two of the cases no "risk-assessed reason" was listed in their patient notes to justify leaving the door open.

Inspectors have given the hospital three months to correct the practice, which had already been highlighted in a previous inspection.

The inspection team also said a number of boxes containing sharp implements had been left open, posing a possible risk to staff, patients and visitors to wards.

The hospital was also ordered to improve ­record-keeping in relation to pulmonary vein catheters. Inspectors found that 11 out of the 14 PVCs they checked did not have a date of insertion recorded among the patients' notes.

Overall, however, Susan Brimelow, HEI Chief Inspector, said NHS Lanarkshire was making good progress in infection control, and praised the introduction of a new procedure "to check mattresses are clean and ready to use".

Iain Wallace, Medical Director, NHS Lanarkshire, welcomed the report, adding: "We are committed to further improvements and have drawn up a detailed action plan to address the areas identified in the report."