A hospital trust has paid a \u00ab\u00a0six-figure settlement package\u00a0\u00bb in the case of nine patients following an outbreak of a bacterial infection linked to its water supply.<\/p>\n
Three patients died and two of these cases were as a result of complications connected to the outbreak at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, according to lawyers.<\/p>\n
Lung transplant patients Karen Starling, 54, of Ipswich, Suffolk, died in February 2020, and Anne Martinez, of Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, died in December 2020.<\/p>\n
Eilish Midlane, the hospital’s chief executive, said: \u00ab\u00a0Lessons have been learnt [and] regulations revised to seek to avoid a similar occurrence in the UK.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
The trust denied liability but resolved each of the claims in out-of-court settlements, which were secured following a civil claim pursued as a group action.<\/p>\n
Six further patients suffered serious complications that continue to affect them following the outbreak of Mycobacterium abscessus (M.abscessus), according to legal firm Irwin Mitchell.<\/p>\n
Lawyers said the \u00ab\u00a0six-figure settlement package\u00a0\u00bb was agreed in connection with the nine cases.<\/p>\n
M.abscessus is a bacterial infection which is a particular risk to people who are vulnerable and immunosuppressed, such as lung transplant patients.<\/p>\n
Solicitor Jatinder Paul said patients were admitted to \u00ab\u00a0this world-renowned hospital… in the hope of a better life\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0While the surgical care itself hasn’t been an issue, the events that unfolded have been devastating for them and their families,\u00a0\u00bb he said.<\/p>\n
He added large public buildings with complex water systems, such as hospitals, can be at an increased risk of waterborne contamination.<\/p>\n
Inquests were held in 2022 into the deaths of Mrs Starling and Mrs Martinez, who both underwent double-lung transplants in 2019 and died the following year.<\/p>\n
Keith Morton, the assistant coroner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, found that their M. abscessus was a hospital-acquired infection.<\/p>\n
In a joint statement, Mrs Martinez’s sons Tony, 43, and Andrew 38, said: \u00ab\u00a0We hoped that when mum underwent her transplant it would be the start of a brighter future.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Even six years on from mum’s transplant, it’s difficult to comprehend the events that unfolded.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Mrs Starling’s husband Derek, said: \u00ab\u00a0Losing Karen in such circumstances is something our family will never truly come to terms with.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Ms Midlane said her \u00ab\u00a0thoughts go out to the patients and families involved\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0We recognise this [settlement] has been possible due to the cooperative approach adopted by all parties, for which we are very grateful.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Providing safe and compassionate patient care is our top priority and as part of our investigation in 2019, we worked tirelessly to investigate, understand, manage and control the outbreak.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0As acknowledged by Irwin Mitchell, we acted appropriately and complied with all the relevant regulations.<\/p>\n
She said lessons had been learned at a local and national level.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Clinicians at Royal Papworth Hospital are now at the forefront of research into the disease,\u00a0\u00bb she added.<\/p>\n
Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A hospital trust has paid a \u00ab\u00a0six-figure settlement package\u00a0\u00bb in the case of nine patients following an outbreak of a bacterial infection linked to its water supply. Three patients died and two of these cases were as a result of complications connected to the outbreak at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, according to lawyers. Lung […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9103","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9103\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}