The superbug MRSA puts a question mark against the cleanliness of Britain’s hospitals.

Considering that hospitals are where we go to be treated, it isn’t acceptable for patients to fall sick with infections through a lack of hygiene.

But is banning doctors sitting on beds or visitors from bringing in flowers for their loved ones taking infection control a step too far?

One general practitioner thinks it is. Writing in the British Medical Journal, Dr Iona Heath says doctors should never be discouraged from bedsitting as patients consistently estimate they have been given more time when the doctor sits down to address them, rather than standing by the bed.

“Some of the most intimate and effective interactions between doctor and patient that I have either witnessed or experienced have occurred while the doctor has been sitting on the patient’s bed. Such interactions are precious and should be made easier rather than more difficult,” says Dr Heath.

She accepts that infection control is important, but asks: ‘Is it all in the interests of being seen to be doing something very noticeable about the worrying levels of hospital-based infections, however ineffective and otherwise disruptive?’ Dr Heath says patients should be encouraged to bring tokens of home into hospital rather than actively discouraged.

“‘Do not sit on the bed’ and ‘No flowers’ are injunctions that are all too similar to ‘Do not walk on the grass’ and ‘No ball games’, rules that diminish the joys of life rather than enhance them and such rules, unless absolutely necessary, have no place in hospitals where joy is too often in short supply.”

A ban on taking flowers in to certain wards and sitting on beds at Bradford’s Royal Infirmary and St Luke’s Hospital has been in place for several years.

Dr Philip Stanley, director of infection prevention and control, and a consultant in infectious diseases at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, says the ban on sitting on beds is part of protocol and prevents the spread of bacteria from one person to another on clothing. Other precautions include rolling up sleeves to wash hands, hand sanitising and apron wearing.

He says it’s not about being hostile, it’s about giving proper care and comfort. “And there are other ways of doing that without sitting on a bed.”

He adds: “There is no problem with sitting on chairs next to the patient’s bed and holding their hand and re-assuring them and giving them care. What we are saying is we want to do that in a safe way.”

He says there are a number of reasons why flowers are not welcome on some wards. The reasons include infection control and cleaning.

Dr Stanley says patients whose immune systems are suppressed are susceptible to infection and germs which can be prevalent in flower water. He says flowers can also leave surfaces cluttered and hinder the cleaning process.

“We are not trying to lose any human touch or care that we give to individual patients, or care that relatives want to give. I don’t think that has been put in any danger,” he says.

Dr Stanley says that while it can’t be proved that such bans have had an impact, MRSA cases have significantly reduced in Bradford and throughout the country.

“In 2005, when the target was set to get MRSA bacteria down in the UK, a lot of people said we would never achieve it and yet, overall in the country, it is down about 80 per cent. In Bradford it is down probably a bit more than that, maybe 90 per cent by the end of this year,” he says.

Health minister Ann Keen says: “There is no national ban on sitting on beds or bringing in flowers. Hospitals make decisions on this based on their local circumstances and there can be good reasons for not allowing these things.

“Where sitting on beds is not allowed, this is generally to reduce the risk of transmitting infections such as MRSA. Flowers are usually only of potential concern with regard to patients who have their immunity to infection severely reduced by their current treatment, for example transplant patients, cancer patients on strong chemotherapy and patients in intensive care and burns units.

“It is right that Trusts continue to make local decisions on this based on the best clinical interests of patients.”