THE daughter of a woman whose death was highlighted in David Cameron's attack on hospital infections has called on NHS managers to ditch their marketing and clean up superbugs instead.

The Conservative Party leader and Witney MP read to his party's conference last week extracts of a reply by Health Secretary Alan Johnson to complaints by Elizabeth Woods's husband John about her treatment.

Mr Cameron claimed it showed the soul had been ripped out of the NHS.

Last night, Mrs Woods's daughter Catherine, 35, said her family were still upset at the way they had been treated.

Mrs Woods, who lived in Middle Barton, was suffering from terminal cancer but also contracted the superbug MRSA.

Ms Woods aIS she was so shocked at the state of the cancer ward at Oxford's Churchill Hospital during one of her mother's stays that she would bring her own cleaning supplies to scrub clean the room.

Ms Woods, now living in Adelaide, Australia, said many other aspects of her mother's stay were too degrading to reveal.

She said: "We're grateful to all the staff who cared for her but respect and gratitude for their excellent work cannot be allowed to prevent complaints against mis-management and inadequate cleaning.

"We have allowed this matter to become public in the hope that it will result in better use of NHS resources, away from marketing mail shots and towards a properly-paid, fully-staffed cleaning service and more nursing staff on the wards.

"My father initially wrote to the Churchill regarding my mother's treatment. It was only the inadequacy of their response that drove him to write to David Cameron.

"My mother was seriously ill with a terminal condition. However, we believe she should have died peacefully, in a hospice, and not as she did — very distressed and due to an MRSA infection."

A former nurse at the John Radcliffe Hospital, 63 year-old Mrs Wood contracted MRSA in May but her death was recorded as being the result of secondary breast cancer.

Elaine Strachan-Hall, director of nursing and clinical leadership for the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, offered her condolences and said an investigation had been launched.

She added: "We do everything to try to ensure that we meet the highest standards for these patients.

"We're concerned at the criticism of lack of cleanliness in one of our wards and will raise the matter directly with the family.

"We involve patient representatives in a monthly cleaning inspection, and wards are subject to annual unannounced inspections, all of which have found cleaning to be satisfactory.

"Our staff work hard to ensure a clean environment, which is monitored daily."

A new £60m cancer centre is set to replace old wards at the Churchill Hospital.