Chase Farm Hospital was one of the first to be inspected

Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust was given an improvement notice by the Healthcare Commission for not meeting standards on bugs such as MRSA.

If the London trust fails to act bosses will become directly answerable to the Health Secretary Alan Johnson.

Barnet and Chase Farm said it was "disappointed" to be given the warning and a robust action plan was in place.

We have a robust action plan to meet the outstanding requirements in the improvement notice Barnet and Chase Farm spokesman

The trust, which runs two acute hospitals, was among the first wave of 11 health organisations to be inspected under a series of unannounced visits.

In total 120 trusts will face spot checks over the next year after the Healthcare Commission was given powers under the Health Act 2006 to issue improvement notices.

It comes as the NHS is struggling to meet its 2008 target to reduce MRSA infections and Clostridium difficile rates continue to increase.

Trusts are required to declare whether they meet the three standards laid down under the hygiene code - these relate to cleanliness, infection control and safety procedures.

The trust had already said it was meeting the code, but during its visit inspectors found serious breaches.

It said the trust was failing to provide and maintain a clean and appropriate environment, put in place sufficient management systems, its duty to assess risk and to provide isolation facilities.

Critical

The commission also said the trust did not provide alcohol gels to help kill infection at patients' beds, lockers or attached to staff uniforms.

And it added the trust also had no budget for training staff in infection control and attendance at training was not monitored, while clinical staff were confused about when to isolate people.

Anna Walker, chief executive of the Healthcare Commission, said: "It is absolutely critical that the trust is able to say it is doing everything possible to control infection.

"This is not yet the case and we expect that problem to be addressed with urgency on behalf of patients."

But she added: "I am reassured that the trust has already begun to implement our requirements, and patients can also be reassured by this."

A spokesman for Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust said: "The trust is very disappointed that we failed as an organisation to demonstrate our compliance with the hygiene code.

"We have a robust action plan to meet the outstanding requirements in the improvement notice."

Health Secretary Alan Johnson said he believed the improvement notice reflected the strength of the present system of checks on NHS trusts.

"It's an indication of how seriously we take things like MRSA."