The biggest hospital in Sussex has admitted that it put patients at risk of catching a fatal bug after a woman died in their care.
78-year-old Joan Rayment from Brighton caught legionella during her stay at the town’s Royal Sussex County hospital. The bacterium causes Legionnaires’ disease – a potentially fatal type of pneumonia.
The Brighton and Sussex University hospitals Trust has now pleaded guilty to putting patients at risk of catching the bug between March 2007 and November 2013. Following the hearing, Chief executive of Brighton and Sussex University hospitals NHS Trust, Matthew Kershaw said that he was “extremely sorry” for the hospital failings and apologised unreservedly to the family of Ms Rayment. It was found that the trust failed to ensure that patients were not exposed to health and safety risks, including legionella, during their stay at the hospital.
Ms Rayment was admitted to the hospital in August 2011 suffering from blood cancer and it was during her stay in the hospital’s Jubilee building that she developed legionella pneumonia. It is thought that she caught the bug from a shower in the ward in which she was staying and she died in 2013.
An inquest into her death concluded that although she had died from natural causes, her death was accelerated due to her catching legionella. Dangerously high levels of legionella were found in various parts of the hospital following her death, including the building in which she had contracted the bug. By law hospitals must, in accordance with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 prevent hospital negligence and the spread of legionella by keeping hot water tanks over 60c.
Mr Kershaw said: “In 2011 unacceptably high levels of Legionella bacteria were found in water samples taken from one of the oldest parts of the Royal Sussex County hospital and failings in our water management systems and processes resulted in inadequate corrective actions being undertaken as quickly as they should have been.
“As soon as these failings came to light we took prompt and decisive action to eliminate the bacteria from the affected showers and these showers were taken out of use until we were absolutely sure there was no further risk of infection.
“…although it was not the cause of her death, it is possible that Mrs Rayment contracted Legionnaires’ disease from a shower in our hospital and for that we are extremely sorry and have apologised unreservedly to her next of kin.”
An investigation into Mr Rayment’s death by Sussex Police determined that the presence of legionella was an “endemic problem” at the hospital. The trust will be sentenced on 18th May.