Inquest into Legionella death finds hospital failed to keep water supply safe

Testing by Public Health England found the Royal United Hospital water supply ward was contaminated with Legionella


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.

Read the article.

 

 



February 12, 2016


Topic Area: Safety


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