The district's hospitals are cleaning up their act in a bid to prevent the spread of CJD.

Bradford and Airedale hospitals have invested in new sterilisation equipment following a damning report on decontamination procedures.

Latest research shows there is a theoretical risk of transmitting the human form of mad cow disease through surgical instruments.

In the first national survey of sterilisation methods, Bradford Royal Infirmary, St Luke's Hospital and Airedale General Hospital in Steeton were all found to be below standard and given 'red' warning ratings.

They have now teamed up to update equipment and their ratings have improved to "amber".

And Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust has now submitted a bid for a new £3.5 million sterilisation services department.

Ian Hammond, director of pharmacy at Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, said £500,000 had already been spent on new equipment.

He said: "There's a new standard for washer disinfectors in particular and most of the units in the NHS are not compliant, so we have bought new units. It means we can record temperatures and cycles, although the old disinfectors took about 20 minutes and the new ones take an hour."

Bradford hospitals wash and sterilise 55,000 trays of instruments a year from 22,000 operations.

If approved by central Government, the new Bradford sterilisation department would be equipped to deal with even more as a regional back-up unit.

"It's a major development and we are hoping for a good outcome," said Mr Hammond. "CJD has been a major factor in focusing on the sterilisation and we welcome it."

Bradford's patient watchdog has flagged up sterilisation procedures in tattooing parlours and body-piercing studios as a matter of concern. The Community Health Council has responded to a national questionnaire from the CJD Incidents Panel, which is investigating how to manage the disease but members agreed they would not carry out spot checks on organisations to assess risk of infection.