Hospital officials kept deadly secret

5:00pm Sunday 3rd February 2013 in News By Kimberly Middleton, Acting chief reporter

Health officials knew a hospital was riddled with legionella for months but did not tell doctors or nurses.

Yesterday a coroner condemned the “woefully inadequate” system at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton which she said had helped accelerate the death of a patient.

Joan Ella de Torre Rayment died on November 9 2011 after catching legionella pneumonia during a three month stay at the hospital.

An inquest into her death was yesterday told Ms Rayment, from Albion Hill, Brighton, was admitted to the hospital’s Howard 2 ward in the Jubilee building in August 2011 suffering from a form of blood cancer that left her susceptible to infection.

The 78-year-old developed legionella pneumonia while on the ward and later died.

A police investigation into her death revealed the problem of high levels of legionella across the hospital was known to some staff for months but they did not tell clinical teams.

Doctors only learned of the issue when Ms Rayment became ill.

High legionella readings were detected in the hospital’s Lawson Unit, Barry Building, Tower Block, Sussex Eye Hospital and Outpatients department.

Water in the Jubilee building got “nowhere near” the 60 degree Celsius temperature needed to kill off legionella – the way the hospital tried to control the spread of bacteria.

Detective Inspector Ian Still said: “No one at the hospital seems to have identified that it was as endemic a problem as we established when we looked at it.”

Within days of Ms Rayment’s death the Health and Safety Executive ordered Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Sussex, to put in a management system to effectively control legionella.

Brighton and Hove Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley said: “There just wasn’t the hands-on control that there should have been.

“There was a department working in splendid isolation, not telling people who needed to know.

“If there was a problem that needed to be sorted at once the infection control team would close the wards down and move patients somewhere else. But the team were not enabled to do their job.”

She recorded a narrative verdict, concluding that although Ms Rayment died of natural causes her death was accelerated, partly because of catching legionella.

Sussex Police’s investigation has been discontinued.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals chief executive Chris Adcock said: “As soon as our infection control team became aware we had raised levels of legionella in some of our older buildings we took prompt and decisive action to eliminate the risk to patients including taking all the affected showers out of use until we were sure the levels were safe.

“We have an approved safe water management policy agreed with the Health and Safety Executive which fully complies with all their guidance.

“The procedures within this policy are reviewed daily, weekly and monthly to ensure compliance.”

Comments(21)

Caute3 says...
6:35pm Sun 3 Feb 13

Nothing that happens at the Royal Sussex County Hospital surprises me. My (elderly) mother was admitted with pneumonia before Xmas and after three day was released (still with pneumonia) with 3 antibiotic tablets and medication for an ulcer which she doesn't have. She ended back in hospital a week later. In the Emergency room, with a fever, she was repeatedly questioned to see if she had 'dementia'- (see this newspaper for a report on this) - her cynical responses led to a discharge report (erroneous as it happens) that she has 'memory problems'. She received no proper care for her pneumonia and days would go by without her seeing a doctor. On many visits, I helped elderly patients get a commode, called nurses when a patients heart machine was bleeping (it took 15 mins for anyone to care enough to sort it out) and even helped feed patients and find them blankets. The staff really didn't care. There may be many excuses - not sufficient staff etc but it really was the case that many members of staff walked by and no-one would help. The real help my mother received for her illness was on release from hospital when her GP prescribed antibiotics and painkillers and an inhaler which, thankfully, have helped and she is now better. This all occurred at the end of 2012/beginner of 2013. She has made a formal complaint but was not alone in thinking that elderly patients are really not safe being treated at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

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gourmand says...
6:38pm Sun 3 Feb 13

SO WHY DOESN'T CHRIS ADCOCK EXPLAIN WHY CLINICAL TEAMS WERE NOT INFORMED OF THE PROBLEM ?

IF WATER POLICY MANAGEMENT IS REVIEWED ON A DAILY BASIS WHY DID HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE HAVE TO ORDER THE HOSPITAL TO PUT IN A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO EFFECTIVELY CONTROL LEGIONELLA ??? ***

HAS ANYONE BEEN DISCIPLINED/SACKED ?

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Ballroom Blitz says...
6:39pm Sun 3 Feb 13

I live in Brighton and would never, ever allow myself to be admitted to that hospital. If I get I'll I will make sure I get driven to worthing or Chichester. And I have heart condition.

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Ballroom Blitz says...
6:41pm Sun 3 Feb 13

Caute3 wrote:
Nothing that happens at the Royal Sussex County Hospital surprises me. My (elderly) mother was admitted with pneumonia before Xmas and after three day was released (still with pneumonia) with 3 antibiotic tablets and medication for an ulcer which she doesn't have. She ended back in hospital a week later. In the Emergency room, with a fever, she was repeatedly questioned to see if she had 'dementia'- (see this newspaper for a report on this) - her cynical responses led to a discharge report (erroneous as it happens) that she has 'memory problems'. She received no proper care for her pneumonia and days would go by without her seeing a doctor. On many visits, I helped elderly patients get a commode, called nurses when a patients heart machine was bleeping (it took 15 mins for anyone to care enough to sort it out) and even helped feed patients and find them blankets. The staff really didn't care. There may be many excuses - not sufficient staff etc but it really was the case that many members of staff walked by and no-one would help. The real help my mother received for her illness was on release from hospital when her GP prescribed antibiotics and painkillers and an inhaler which, thankfully, have helped and she is now better. This all occurred at the end of 2012/beginner of 2013. She has made a formal complaint but was not alone in thinking that elderly patients are really not safe being treated at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.
That is scary.

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george smith says...
6:57pm Sun 3 Feb 13

Even more worrying it is a teaching hospital, what on earth are they teaching the trainees?

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OSFKVA says...
8:14pm Sun 3 Feb 13

Well said Caute3.. What happened to your mother is far from an isolated incident. This hospital trust just don't care. (Example: They have closed the re-hab centre at Newhaven that looked after my mother with great care a year or two back). Don't let them talk about cutbacks when they pay the chief executive's PA a five figure sum. THe question is, when is our MP for Kemptown going to stand up, be counted and fight for our elderly folk. Their votes could make the difference in the next election if he really wants to be re-elected...

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Hove Actually says...
8:18pm Sun 3 Feb 13

Lessons learnt changes make bla bla bla

or to put it another way

Shut the frak up and do as your told morons, we do as we want without recourse to the paitents or ethical behaviour

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charlie smirke says...
9:33pm Sun 3 Feb 13

Both my parents died in this hospital, not too long ago. My mother was left 24 hours without any proper tests and died as a result of their delays. My father was operated on unsuccessfully and also died after a few days without us getting any proper explanations.
What does surprise me is that anyone does come out of this hospital, other than in a box. Dirty, disgusting place. My vet's surgery is far cleaner and way more efficient.

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scuba1 says...
9:52pm Sun 3 Feb 13

Omg how scared am I now ... My 7 year old was in there last week for an op ! Hope to god she didn't catch anything ..

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Jetsamandflotsam says...
7:38am Mon 4 Feb 13

Old, sick people die, get over it!
Of course the vets seems cleaner and more efficient they are a tiny set up and of course charging you.
The NHS needs reforming because we all expect everything for nothing and it is not properly funded.
Ive got no time for NHS bashers.

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DB Brighton says...
8:34am Mon 4 Feb 13

Shocking story and no real explanation/apology/
answer from those accountable.
But, just to say: if the PA works full-time it would surely be illegal not to pay them a five-figure salary?!

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mimseycal says...
8:43am Mon 4 Feb 13

Ballroom Blitz wrote:
I live in Brighton and would never, ever allow myself to be admitted to that hospital. If I get I'll I will make sure I get driven to worthing or Chichester. And I have heart condition.
I too would take every step I could to avoid ending up in that rat hole. It is a disgrace!

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Ballroom Blitz says...
8:47am Mon 4 Feb 13

Jetsamandflotsam wrote:
Old, sick people die, get over it!
Of course the vets seems cleaner and more efficient they are a tiny set up and of course charging you.
The NHS needs reforming because we all expect everything for nothing and it is not properly funded.
Ive got no time for NHS bashers.
No one's bashing the NHS. They are just telling it like it is.
It does need more funding, but will never get it while this Tory government is in power, and also while ordinary people are so stupid that they want a decent NHS but don't want to pay any more income tax.
You can't have one without the other, unless you can persuade the government to tax bankers and cancel all spending on defense - which we don't need.

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Morpheus says...
9:32am Mon 4 Feb 13

Have the staff who knew about the legionella been sacked? No. This is the problem with the NHS, not lack of funding.

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Tailgaters Anonymous says...
1:07pm Mon 4 Feb 13

Having worked some years ago in a small but significant part of the NHS previously based in Eastbourne nothing that happens in relation to facilities' management in the NHS surprises me! All about the art of escaping responsibility and pinning blame elsewhere!!
Anonymous place was riddled with scabies despite not being closer to any patients than the nearest doctor's or dentist's surgery!!

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OSFKVA says...
8:25pm Mon 4 Feb 13

DB Brighton wrote:
Shocking story and no real explanation/apology/

answer from those accountable.
But, just to say: if the PA works full-time it would surely be illegal not to pay them a five-figure salary?!
DB... The five figure sum equates to 70K... This is also shocking when the RCSH is cutting back on services... I wonder how many staff who deliver care at the sharp at the end at the RSCH who don't even get half of that salary would agree with you?

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Caute3 says...
8:42pm Mon 4 Feb 13

For me the most scariest thing in my mother's case (see comment above) was the fact that two men were testing her for dementia, asking intrusive questions such as 'do you own your own home' whilst she was seriously ill, with a fever and waiting for treatment. This is a policy that the government introduced last October - to screen all people over 75 for dementia on arriving -by ambulance - to hospital. I would seriously question the benefit of this and ask: which one of us from 3 to 30 to 80 with a high fever and/or in pain would respond well to being questioned in this manner? And it's not as if this type of questioning is actually a proper diagnostic tool - if you read the information by the Alzeimers Association it clearly states only a trained psychiatrist can give a diagnosis and only a brain scan can truly show deterioration. I don't think it's a coincidence that since this policy was made more and more elderly people are being 'diagnosed' with dementia and the government are arguing that this is a reason they should not be treated in hospital (- because mentally ill people - real, mentally ill people, aren't human, right? Or should that be elderly people aren't human?) I agree, the problem is not money - I have been in poor countries where staff - doctors and nurses are paid peanuts and yet they have something that the Royal Sussex lacks - care! Non-care coupled with government prejudice leads to disaster, disease and death. We've seen it repeatedly. This is just another story is a long line.

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Caute3 says...
8:43pm Mon 4 Feb 13

PS Sorry for all the typos - that's concern for you :-)

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claremoss says...
9:51pm Mon 4 Feb 13

As a nurse at the County, I care. A nurse wouldn't work the hours they work, for the money they get, for the extra responsibilities put on them as the years go by, for the 8 patients to one nurse the Government deem an acceptable nurse to patient ratio, if we didn't care. For every horrible story where things went wrong there are happily a million stories where things went right and whilst I agree the NHS needs help, please do not suggest that nurses do not care. There is not one member of my team who I doubt the integrity of. It is horrible that the things above happened though, and I am sorry that it happened at the County, and am positive that in some areas nurses are too busy to help patients but we only have one pair of hands and if you have 8 unwell patients on an 8 hour shift, how much attention can you give each patient? The maths is easy, it is one hour each, this is ridiculous and the Government need to change this unsafe ratio.

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fredflintstone1 says...
2:31am Tue 5 Feb 13

This type of situation will continue until the managers are held legally culpable and facing jail time. Then watch how fast these incidents become a thing of the past.

Why are the police not carrying out a proper investigation - yet again? We've been here before with the Panorama investigation into the RSCH. It's in the public interest to prosecute - perhaps out new Police Commissioner could make this a priority issue?

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TheDelicateOne says...
2:24pm Wed 6 Feb 13

OSFKVA wrote:
Well said Caute3.. What happened to your mother is far from an isolated incident. This hospital trust just don't care. (Example: They have closed the re-hab centre at Newhaven that looked after my mother with great care a year or two back). Don't let them talk about cutbacks when they pay the chief executive's PA a five figure sum. THe question is, when is our MP for Kemptown going to stand up, be counted and fight for our elderly folk. Their votes could make the difference in the next election if he really wants to be re-elected...
Without in anyway excusing the hospital for its lack of care etc, I think you'll find that paying anyone with a full time job less than a 5 figure sum is illegal these days....

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