The NHS has done much to change public perception of its cleanliness over the years - PEAT inspections, stringent hygiene codes enforced by the Healthcare Commission and the Care Quality Commission and “deep cleans” of wards. But somehow the message does not seem to be getting through.

Driving through leafy Kent the other day, an End Game informant was stuck behind a particularly filthy yellow van. On its back door, some joker had written not just “also available in yellow” but “cleaned by the NHS”.