Healthcare inspectors are making a two-day visit to the trust

The two-day inspection at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS is part of follow-up procedures after a damning Healthcare Commission report.

The report said C.diff was probably the main cause of death for 90 patients at the trust's hospitals.

A Healthcare Commission spokeswoman said the visit was to assess how recommendations were being implemented.

She said: "We made a number of recommendations following our investigation into the trust.

"This week's visits are part of a number of routine checks we'll be making over the coming months to ensure that improvements are being made.

"The types of things we are looking at cover cleanliness, what systems and process are in place to manage infections, and the role of the board."

Last month, the trust's new director of infection prevention and control said cleanliness had improved "enormously".

Dr Sara Mumford said: "We're taking a very rapid response to all incidences of both C.diff and other infectious diseases, so we can isolate patients and make sure the wards remain clean and infection-free."

Extra government money was also being spent on "ward-by-ward" deep-cleaning at the trust's hospitals in December.

'Infection rates falling'

Dr Mumford said this would involve "changing all the soft furnishings, and fogging the wards with a hydrogen peroxide mist which gets into all the nooks and crannies".

Trust chief executive Glenn Douglas said levels of C.diff and MRSA were both falling, while the process of rebuilding the senior management team was ongoing after the departure of the chairman and five non-executive directors.

The Healthcare Commission report, published in October, concluded that C.diff - a bacterial infection of the gut which mainly affects the elderly - was definitely or probably the main cause of death for 90 patients.

It was definitely a contributing factor in the deaths of a further 124, and a probable factor in another 55.

Hospital cleaning has improved since the damning report

Speaking at the start of the inspection, Dr Heather Wood, of the Healthcare Commission, who wrote the report, said: "What we're looking for is really what the public are looking for."

She said officials would be looking to see if the wards were clean and tidy, looking at the equipment and nursing numbers, and talking to staff.

Mr Douglas said the trust had nothing to hide, and there had been "no special instructions to clean".

"I believe that the cleaning is considerably improved and I believe that the Healthcare Commission will see a considerable improvement in the cleaning of the hospitals.

"But the Healthcare Commission as well are going to be doing random checks, so just making sure we're continually on our toes," he said.