NHS staff working in the community across Oxfordshire are among the first in the UK to use the hospital-based Clean Your Hands campaign to combat superbugs.

County patients who receive care in their own homes are being urged to check whether district nurses wash their hands before treating them, in a bid to stamp out infections like MRSA and Clostridium difficile.

The pilot scheme was launched this week by Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust.

Amanda Leconte, PCT lead for infection prevention and control, said: "People being treated in their own homes will receive a leaflet requesting them to take part by asking the nurses to wash their hands before they treat them.

"Part of the campaign is that patients need to know it's OK to ask. We want people to ask our staff to wash their hands, in the same way they'd offer them a cup of tea. There's a barrier that we need to take away."

Although superbugs, known as healthcare acquired infections, are thought of as the domain of major hospitals, such as Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, they are also commonly found in the community.

Ms Leconte said: "The idea is to stop transmission between people. If we can combat this problem in the community we're half way there.

"We need to work together with our acute sector colleagues to make this work."

The Clean Your Hands Campaign was launched by the Department of Health, after Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital started its own Handy Hygiene campaign, encouraging patients to ask staff to wash their hands.

It will be adopted by district nurses, and the county's community hospitals - which are overseen by the PCT - for three months.

Despite hospital publicity campaigns designed to increase the use of alcohol solutions, and the recruitment of 24-hour specialist cleaning teams, experts say most infections are still spread by hands.