Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust's domestic team at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester, has won a cleaning "Oscar".

The Kimberly-Clark Professional Golden Service Award was presented to RHCH housekeeping staff at the Savoy, London, on Friday.

The panel praised the standard of cleanliness and high levels of monitoring and training.

Chief executive, Rod Halls, said: "We are absolutely thrilled that we have won this national award. It is a fantastic achievement that gives people a real feeling of confidence that they are coming to a clean hospital."

Marilyn Lawson, housekeeping manager, added: "Criticism of cleanliness in hospitals can be very demoralising for our staff. Yet, we are now officially the best in the country."

In last year's inspection by the Patient Environment Assessment Team, the RHCH scored top marks for cleanliness and general appearance.