Tolworth Hospital staff were shocked to hear about their colleagues' two-day trip to a Midlands flooring company.

South West London and St George's Mental Health Trust sent four members of its maintenance staff, along with two representatives from its cleaning companies, to find out about flooring methods from a company called Karndean in the Midlands. The trip was funded by Karndean.

Maresa Ness, chief operating officer at the trust, said: "The aim was to help inform decisions about future flooring, maintenance and cleaning methods for the trust with an emphasis on the role flooring choice and cleaning methods can play in infection control.

The visit breached no protocol - it was for education, training and development benefit and could not have been done in one day."

But one member of staff, who did not want to be named, said some staff did not understand why six people needed to go on the trip.