Cleaners at two Oxford hospitals are celebrating success after their work scored excellent marks from health inspectors during an unannounced spot check.

The John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, scored 99 per cent in a Healthcare Commission inspection last month, while the Radcliffe Infirmary in the city centre was awarded 94 per cent.

The Government body arrived in Oxford without warning, just months after taking over hospital checks from the Patient Environment Action Team, which used to advise NHS staff in advance about its visits or asked them to carry out self-assessments.

Ken Hanks, head of facilities at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, which oversees both hospitals, said: "The first time we knew about it was when they arrived in reception asking to speak to the person in charge of cleaning. It's the first time that's ever happened.

"They looked at 38 different standards in wards, public areas and the outpatient departments. They looked at seating areas, kitchens, cleaners' cupboards, toilets, as well as searching for dust over the tops of doors.

"They also talked to a lot of patients - it really was a very thorough check."

There are 160 cleaners at the JR and 80 more at the RI. Their hard work helped the JR's casualty and outpatient departments and many of the RI's clinical areas achieve top 100 per cent grades from the inspectors.

Mr Hanks said: "We were surprised at the results, but I suppose we're our own worst critic. This shows that cleaning is a high priority for us, we take it seriously and we achieve consistently high standards as a result.

"Although the RI scored slightly lower than the JR, parts of the building are 200 years old, so it's more difficult to sustain the same standards."

The Healthcare Comm- ission inspection took place on Monday, August 1 - by coincidence, the same day that in-house cleaning at the JR was taken over by an independent company.

As part of the private finance initiative for the new children's hospital and west wing, developer Carillion is now responsible for maintaining the whole building for 30 years until its investment has been repaid by the NHS.

Mr Hanks said: "Carillion can't take credit for our high score, but now they have to keep the standards up!"

A spokesman for Carillion said: "We congratulate the trust on this excellent performance in relation to hospital cleanliness and look forward to collaborating with them to maintain these high standards in the years to come."