Thompsons Solicitors Partner Patrick McGuire has joined criticism of cleanliness standards at Stirling Royal Infirmary.

Mr McGuire who represents the families at the public inquiry into the deaths of 18 victims of the C-Diff outbreak at the Vale of Leven Hospital, said: “It is deeply disturbing that hospitals like Stirling are still not achieving the standards of cleanliness required to avoid outbreaks of deadly infections like C-Diff.

“It is particularly alarming that this was the inspector’s second visit to Stirling and some of the issues they raised first time round have still not been addressed”.

Inspectors from Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI) who made an unannounced visit to Stirling Royal Infirmary said standards in the majority of the areas they visited were "poor".

They visited nine areas of the hospital, including accident and emergency, the critical care unit and wards for the elderly and found dirty wards, stained mattresses and infected linen in bathrooms.

HEI chief inspector Susan Brimelow said: "This is our second inspection of Stirling Royal Infirmary and we found a number of areas where significant improvements need to be made, some of which were included in the report of the last inspection and have not been effectively resolved."

"The standard of cleaning in the majority of areas was poor and not all staff are adhering to the national dress code policy”.

The hospital’s management has been told to tackle issues raised in 12 areas and recommended improvements in three more.

Many of the wards will be moving to the new Forth Valley Royal Hospital in July 2011.