That's why life-size cardboard nurses will be taking residence in hospitals across the county over the next couple of weeks.

The flat pack contains a recorded message which is activated as people walk past, asking them to wash their hands.

Though their bedside manner may be a little stiff, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) is hoping the cut-outs will help cut out infection.

A spokesman for ULHT said: "We use a lot of different methods to get people to wash their hands.

"Washing hands is a proven way of reducing the spread of infection, and we've already got hand-washing stations outside each ward.

"This is just another way to encourage people to stop and wash their hands."

Some 15 nurses will be popping up at Pilgrim Hospital, with another 45 across the county.

They will be positioned at the entrances of hospital wards, and request visitors to use the nearby hand-washing stations on arrival and before leaving.

"We're not recording them with evil shouting voices," added the spokesmen.

"We're trying to make them sound quite polite.

"What we are hoping to do is have the ward sister on each ward record the message, just to give it a personal touch."

The trust recently announced significant drops in the number of C-difficile infections, by 41 per cent, and the number of MRSA infections, by 37 per cent.