The John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford is one of the dirtiest in the UK.

It is one of 42 named and shamed in a Government report for its poor decoration, cleanliness and support services.

Inspectors toured more than 600 hospitals following a £30m Department of Health campaign to improve conditions.

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Although Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust managers spent more than £84,000 of their total £150,000 cleaning budget on the John Radcliffe, inspectors still found its standard of cleanliness was "poor".

Hospitals are graded on a traffic light system - red for poor, yellow for could do better and green for good.

John Radcliffe managers spent £30,000 on new bed linen, £27,000 for new drinks trolleys and £11,000 on decorating and flooring, to combat the cleanliness problems. But despite the extra spending, cleaning sub-contractor Mediclean has had difficulty recruiting staff to work at the John Radcliffe and the Churchill.

Other county hospitals have "in-house" cleaners employed directly by the hospital management.

Trevor Paine, head of facilities at the trust, which covers the John Radcliffe, said: "Our action plan has achieved a lot and we are very committed, but we can't solve all the problems in just one year.

"I'm disappointed we haven't done better - but it's not for the want of trying.

"Without the staff there is a gap between what we want to do and what we can achieve."

No-one from Mediclean was available for comment.

The John Radcliffe was the only one out of four hospitals overseen by the trust that ha failed to progress to a higher grade since the last report six months ago.

The Churchill and Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford and The Horton, Banbury, were all given yellow grades.

The John Radcliffe has had an ongoing problem with cleanliness and decoration. In February, 112 bin bags of rubbish were collected during just one litter pick in the grounds.

Two other Oxfordshire hospitals, The Elms mental health clinic in Oxford Road, Banbury, and The Park Hospital for children in Old Road, Headington, Oxford - both controlled by Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare Trust - were also given red grades.

Helen Millar, the trust's associate director of strategy and support governance, said neither unit had had an inspection and the red grades were based on self-assessment forms filled in by hospital managers.

She said it was likely that the grading had been carried over from the autumn report.

Miss Millar said: "Both of these buildings are old buildings and we are continuing to address the problems.

"We have invested £50,000 in refurbishment and cleaning and we have successfully completed our own action plan.

"As far as we are concerned the standards of cleanliness are good."