One in four NHS trusts are failing to hit targets aimed at tackling bugs such as MRSA and clostridium difficile, according to a report.

Fewer trusts than last year can show they maintain standards on cleanliness and hygiene, despite a Government drive to get the message across.

The news comes only weeks after the Healthcare Commission warned that hospitals will be served with improvement notices if they fail to tackle the bugs.

The report issued by the Commission is based on whether trusts meet 24 core government-set standards on care.

Experts from the Healthcare Commission carry out spot checks on about one in five of England's NHS trusts to see if their findings match what trusts say.

Yesterday's figures show that 40 per cent of trusts believe they met all core standards in 2006-7 - up from 34 per cent in 2005-06.

But the picture relating to hygiene was poor, with 56 trusts (14 per cent) saying they had not met, or had insufficient evidence to say they met the standard on properly decontaminating reusable medical devices, such as theatre instruments.

A total of 55 trusts (14 per cent) also had not met, or could not prove they met, the standard on keeping patients safe by reducing the risk from infections such as clostridium difficile.

This was double the seven per cent that said the same thing last year.

A total of 43 trusts (11 per cent) had not met, or had no data to show they met, the standard on areas being clean and buildings being in good order.

Four trusts did not meet any of the three standards relating to hygiene. These were the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, Sheffield Primary Care Trust, Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust and Wiltshire Primary Care Trust.

The Royal Cornwall was identified earlier this month as being in financial difficulty when the Government published figures on NHS deficits.

Overall, 99 trusts (25 per cent) were non-compliant with one or more aspects of a hygiene code, which was set down as a statutory obligation by the Government in October last year.

The code lists the steps trusts should take to help cut the risk of hospital-acquired infections.

In April, Health Protection Agency statistics showed there were 55,681 cases of clostridium difficile in patients aged 65 and over in England last year.