An inquest into a Legionella death found that the Royal United Hospital in Bath, England, failed to keep water supply safe, according to an article on the Bath Chronicle website.
After the death of a cancer patient from a water-borne illness, the hospital staff, Mr Gubb's staff discovered that the temperature of the water in a return hot water pipe was between 35C and 40C – a temperature at which Legionella can thrive – instead of the 50C it should have been at minimum.
Further investigation discovered that there was a broken pump in a separate water loop feeding the isolation part of a ward where particularly vulnerable patients stayed. The broken pump meant that the hot water was not being returned to the boiler regularly enough to stay hot enough.
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