PARTS of a major hospital are being left in a poor condition because of problems with staffing, hospital cleaners have claimed.

Cleaning staff at York Hospital claim gaps in cover, caused by unfilled vacancies and staff sickness, amount to 750 hours a week.

One member of staff, who asked not to be named, said there had been numerous complaints about cleanliness and described some areas as being "filthy".

And a spokesman for the union Unite said: "Our members are devoted to maintaining standards, but if you have no staff to clean, inevitably that leads to a decline in standards."

He claimed that recent changes to the targets cleaning staff work to, and changes to break patterns, have created a "perfect storm".

However a hospital spokesman insisted: “The hygiene and cleanliness in our hospitals is of utmost importance to us.

“Widespread activity takes place across all our hospitals to ensure that the environment in wards and clinics is as safe as possible for our patients, focusing on prevention, practices and procedures."

He said the hospital currently had vacancies for 24 domestic positions and interviews were taking place throughout February

“Given that there are a number of current vacancies we have temporarily increased agency hours to ensure the cleanliness in our hospitals is not compromised.”