A "zero tolerance policy" for NHS staff who fail to wash their hands was today declared by the Scottish Government.
And the public will be able to check superbug infection rates and levels of hand cleanliness for each hospital under the new measures.
The latest moves in the battle against hospital infection were announced today by health secretary Nicola Sturgeon.
A "one-stop shop" is to be set up to give public access to all published information on hospital infection rates and hand hygiene compliance.
This will be available on a website which will be established by the end of the month.
The "zero tolerance" approach has been set out by the Scottish Government's chief nursing officer, Paul Martin, in a letter to all health board chief executives.
Figures earlier this month showed varying levels of compliance for hand hygiene.
The target level for compliance in Scotland is at least 90%. Overall, this target is being exceeded, at 93%.
But within this total, compliance levels vary from 95% for nurses to 84% for medical staff.
Ms Sturgeon said: "Hand hygiene is a simple, but essential, part of our drive to tackle infections in hospitals, for everyone from consultants to clerical staff.
"That's why we are now adopting a zero tolerance approach to non-compliance by NHS staff to ensure we build on the great progress that has already been made."
The new drive includes an eight-week advertising campaign.
And a new awareness campaign aimed at health workers, patients and visitors will be launched in the spring.
Ms Sturgeon said: "All NHS staff have a duty to ensure the safest possible environment for patients.
"Hand hygiene is not difficult and it is unacceptable for staff not to comply with guidance and procedures. It simply has to become a routine part of all health workers' daily lives.
"Today's launch of the zero tolerance policy means all staff should be in no doubt that the highest standards are expected and must be delivered."
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) backed the drive but said research showed individuals were rarely to blame.
And disciplinary action should only be a "last resort," it said.
"Health boards must put in place appropriately sited and managed sinks and hand-hygiene facilities to allow staff to comply with the requirements that are placed upon them," said the RCN.
"They must also ensure that all staff understand exactly what is expected of them in relation to hand hygiene and that healthcare staff working in demanding environments have appropriate opportunities to wash their hands."
Tory public health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said hand hygiene was important, but not the whole answer.
"We can't stop HAIs (healthcare-acquired infections) just by washing our hands," he said.
"An electronic bed management system, as successfully piloted at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, is an ideal way of monitoring infection trends on a bed-by-bed basis which could make an enormous difference."
Labour welcomed what it described as a U-turn, saying it had been the first to call for publication of infection data hospital-by-hospital.
Labour health spokeswoman Cathy Jamieson said the Scottish Government should now act on other aspects of an action plan drawn up by Labour and anti-infection professors Hugh Pennington and Brian Toft.
"Labour wants to see a single NHS commissioner to co-ordinate action and drive progress," said Ms Sturgeon.
"There's no point in patients being aware of problems in hospitals if there's not a senior figure to drive improvements.
"It needs to be pointed out that C diff infection rates is worse than 12 months ago and we cannot afford to be complacent."
The Liberal Democrats called for "zero tolerance" of lax hand hygiene to be extended to patients' visitors.
Health spokesman Ross Finnie said: "If health workers are to be threatened with the sack for not washing their hands, then hospital visitors should also be subject to similar restrictions.
"We all have a responsibility to stop infections spreading through hospital wards.
"If visitors repeatedly fail to wash their hands then they shouldn't be allowed back."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article