A Midland hospital whose cleaning staff were exposed in a television documentary will unveil an "MRSA-free ward" next month.

Every fixture, fitting and surface in a new £100,000 ward at Birmingham's Heartlands Hospital has been ' impregnated' with a silver-based powder invented by Black Country firm Biocote.

Rates of various infections, including MRSA, will be monitored in the new five-bed unit for day and outpatients and compared to those of a similar, existing ward.

But cleaning staff, last week shown flouting basic hygiene rules on a Panorama programme, will not be told of the differences between the two areas.

If the two-year trial succeeds in further reducing the level of hospital-acquired infections, hospital bosses plan to introduce similar measures across the site.

Cait Allen, spokeswoman for Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust - which runs Heartlands Hospital - said: "We thought that this unit was to be newly fitted out, we would install these products instead of standard ones and test them for effectiveness.

"Should the trial be successful, we will then roll these products out across the trust.

"If they do not impact on the MRSA rates, then we will have lost nothing and this department will continue to run like any other patient service."

The anti-microbial powder is built into everything within the new unit from light switches to handrails, and cubicle curtains to door handles.

A chemical reaction between the silver and the bacteria stops its growth and reproduction. As well as tackling MRSA, it also guards against E.coli, listeria and salmonella bugs.

Michelle Whelan, spokeswoman for Biocote - based in Bilston, Wolverhampton - said the products were not designed as a substitute for good hygiene and basic cleaning practices.

"We believe that cleaners will still be the hospital's first line of defence, and because none of the surfaces are Biocote branded, there's no reason why cleaning staff should ignore them," she said.

"We don't want them to become complacent because the surfaces are antimicrobial, so this is really the second line of defence against infections."