Nigel Edwards, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, which represents health service managers, was slightly more cautious.

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Nigel Edwards, policy director of the NHS Confederation, told BBC News the project was in fact "largely on budget".

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Nigel Edwards, of the NHS Confederation, which represents managers, welcomed the listening exercise, saying his members had concerns about the plans.

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Nigel Edwards, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said he accepted the report's findings and blamed the hygiene problem on a cost-cutting culture imposed on the NHS by politicians over the past two decades.

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Nigel Edwards, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, which represents health service managers, said he hoped the new system would "reduce the heavy burden of regulation" on NHS organisations which existed under the current system.

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"In rehab wards for instance, where patients are staying for long periods of time, the turnover rate is low so the issue of cleaning beds between patients is not so pressing, " said Nigel Edwards, director of policy for the NHS confederation.

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