British actress Leslie Ash is on a crusade for cleaner hospitals after contracting an infection that nearly killed her.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ash is still unable to walk properly 11 months after becoming infected with MSSA -- methicillin-sensitive staphylococcus aureus -- in a London hospital, reported the Times of London.

"Catching MSSA changed everything for me," she said. "I want to bring this to the public notice and I think having a profile will help."

Ash contracted the infection, which is similar to MRSA but can be treated with antibiotics, when being treated last April with a broken rib and collapsed lung.

The TV star thinks the loss of old-fashioned cleaning might increase the risk of contracting this type of infection.

"We have to get these hospitals clean, and the cleaning has to get back to basics," she said. "When I was in hospital, I looked at a blob of blood that was on the floor for three days. The mop was filthy. It had been in every room down my ward."