The death of two patients from Legionnaire’s disease has led a court to fine Basildon Hospital in Essex £350,000 after prosecutors highlighted the various negligent actions which contributed to the tragedy.
In 2010, James Compton, 74, and Raymond Cockett, 54 were admitted to hospital but contracted the disease during their stay and sadly could not be saved, leading their families to demand sanction for the hospitals failings.
The fine comes at a time when the NHS is under huge pressure following several high profile instances of gross professional negligence at hospitals and care homes around the country. Indeed, Basildon Hospital was one of the institutions identified in the Keogh review into high fatality rates as needing significant improvement.
The hospital has now confessed that it failed to satisfy Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act which refers to the protection of the wellbeing of patients and staff alike. Seemingly, an attempt to cut costs between 2005 and 2006 was largely to blame for the deaths as hospital managers decided to spend less on chemically treating the water in the hospital in a bid to save money against the advice of healthcare advisors. It is believed that this was key to spread of legionella and therefore a particularly negligent move by hospital board members.
It has now transpired that the hospitals battle with legionella could stretch back as far as 15 years. Indeed, in 2007, a court demanded that the hospital pay a £25,000 fine after another patient dies having contracted Legionnaire’s disease whilst receiving treatment. It is perhaps unsurprising therefore that the court has upped the punishment this time round.
Magistrates were advised to issue a minimum £100,000 fine per Legionnaire’s death and in light of the other 6 non-fatal cases of Legionnaire’s disease a £350,000 figure was settled upon. The court was particularly critical of the fact that the hospital had been aware of the problem for so long and yet still failed to prevent the deaths. The response of hospital representatives was to point to the £3 million directed towards fighting legionella, a response which would have sounded hollow to the families of the patients who tragically lost their lives.
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