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    NHS Trust failings blamed for superbug 'tragedy'

    Posted on 11/10/2007

    Significant failings in the handling of a superbug led to 90 deaths, a report published by the Healthcare Commission has claimed.

    The report looked at the response of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust to a major outbreak of Clostridium difficile. Between April 2004 and September 2006, more than 1,170 patients were infected across the Trust's three hospitals. The infection led to 90 deaths, most of which occurred during two major outbreaks.

    The report said that the NHS board was unaware of the severity of the outbreak, and did not spend enough time dealing with infection control.

    It also accused the Trust of failing to address issues raised by patients and staff. These included concerns over a shortage of nurses, poor patient care and the movement of patients between wards.

    'What happened to the patients at this trust was a tragedy,' Anna Walker, the Commission's chief executive. 'This report fully exposes the reasons for that tragedy, so that the same mistakes are never made again.'

    The Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said it accepted the report's findings, and that rates of the infection in its hospitals had now dropped below the NHS average for last year.

    The trust's medical director Dr Malcolm Stewart said: 'We are sorry about what happened and we are determined to continue to reduce levels of the infection locally.'



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