The government's deep cleaning hospital programme has come under fire from NHS managers and cleaning companies.
Firms carrying out the £50 million deep clean, claim the scheme would be unnecessary had better funding been given for proper day-to-day cleaning.
And the NHS Confederation, representing hospital managers, has suggested the policy may be a waste of money.
Nigel Edwards, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said: "We would like policy to be based on evidence and we have picked up a degree of scepticism from a number of our members about this."
"We would not want to see relatively new hospitals being deep cleaned; it would be a waste of money."
Andrew Large, the director general of the Cleaning and Support Services Association, which represents hospital cleaning firms, said cleaning budgets had been 'squeezed' over the last few years.
When they are up for renegotiation we are being offered less and being told to clean things less frequently," he explained.
"For example, where we would perhaps have cleaned the tiles every week, it may be every two weeks from then on. It sounds like only a little thing, but when it is applied to everything it makes a difference. If this had not happened I think infection rates would be lower.
"In my view, it would be a better use of money if the day-to-day cleaning was funded properly."
The Department of Health has said deep cleaning is only part of its campaign. Other initiatives will include MRSA screening for all hospital patients and more infection control nurses.
The country's 1,500 hospitals have until the end of March to complete the deep cleaning programme.