HSE and Kent Police decide not to investigate Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust

E038:08 30 July 2008

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Kent Police today announced the conclusion of a joint review of a Healthcare Commission report published in October 2007 into outbreaks of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

HSE and Kent Police reviewed the Healthcare Commission's report through a series of interviews with the Commission's lead investigators and all the experts who considered the information gathered by the Healthcare Commission in compiling their report. HSE has concluded that whilst mistakes had been made, there is insufficient information to launch a criminal investigation.

Sandra Caldwell CB, HSE Deputy Chief Executive, said today:

"First I want to express my sympathy to all those affected by the outbreaks of C. difficile at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. HSE shares the Police's conclusion that, from the information available, we cannot establish with certainty a causal link between failings to manage infection and the death of any particular person.

"The Trust has acknowledged that mistakes were made and their senior management team has changed substantially. Our priority now is to provide reassurance to the people of Kent that the infection risk at their hospitals is being properly managed. An audit of the Trust will therefore be conducted this September."

The full text of Sandra Caldwell's statement is at the end of this release.

Notes to editors

1. The Healthcare Commission published a report into failings of infection control at Maidstone and Kent NHS Trust on 11 October 2007
2. HSE undertook the joint review of the Healthcare Commission report with Kent Police. Their statement on today's announcement can be found at http://www.kent.police.uk/News/Latest_News/index.html
3. Further information on HSE's work with the Health Services can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/index.htm

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Full text of Sandra Caldwell's statement

Firstly, I want to express my sympathy to anyone who lost their loved ones in these hospitals at the time of the outbreaks of C difficile infection within Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust.

I also want to thank Kent Police for their co-operation and support throughout our joint review of the Healthcare Commission report. We have worked together throughout the review and are united on the conclusions.

The Healthcare Commission report alleged a series of failings by the Trust and individuals. We have reviewed the report through a series of interviews with the Healthcare Commission's lead investigator and all the experts who considered the information gathered by the Healthcare Commission in compiling their report.

We share the police's conclusion that, from the information available, we cannot establish with certainty a causal link between failings to manage infection and the death of any particular person.

From the interviews with the experts who advised the Healthcare Commission we also concluded that there was insufficient information to link the actions of any individual with the spread of infection or to show that any senior managers within the Trust was personally responsible for any direct failure that lead to infection.

The Trust has acknowledged that mistakes were made. There have been a series of changes in the management of the Trust and in the senior management team. The Healthcare Commission has reported improvements in the performance of the Trust in managing C. difficile infections.

We believe the priority now is to provide reassurance to the people of Kent that the infection risk at their hospitals is being properly managed. HSE therefore intend to audit the Trust during September. HSE's audit will focus on the Trust's overall management of health and safety as well as the current regimes for infection control. If we find any significant failures in the arrangements we will not hesitate to take enforcement action to address these. We are aware that the Healthcare Commission is about to undertake similar work at the Trust and we want to work with the Healthcare Commission to ensure our efforts are coordinated.

Thank you