UPDATED! | Hospital Wards Close Due To Legionella Scare | Hornchurch, London

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Orig Post |

Hospital wards close as patients fall ill with suspected cases of Legionnaires Disease, reported today, 22nd October 2012.

The wards closed last Friday (19th) in St George’s Hospital in Hornchurch when the disease was suspected to be affecting patients - They moved the patients when they received a high counts of legionella in the water systems back from laboratory tests, indicating that the patients my have contracted the disease, however, no confirmed cases have been announced.

The patients at the surrounding hospitals have been closely watched over this weekend to ensure the confirmation of the diagnosis. When such details become available, we'll post an update as soon as possible.

As this is a potential legionella outbreak in the County's Capital, we are sure to see a further rise in the HSE's interest in the ACOP (L8), as previously has been seen with the latest few legionella scares. Dare we say more spot checks and closer monitoring procedures are on the horizon.


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Out-patients are now not being admitted to the hospital due to the high legionella counts found in the

Basildon Hospital Prosecution For Careless Legionella Monitoring

(Repost)

A hospital in Essex will be taken to court after they were alleged to have failed to stop people being exposed to legionella bacteria.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is prosecuting Basildon Hospital under the Health and Safety at Work Act, with the single charge from the HSE relating to a case of legionella at the hospital between February 2004 and December 2010.

Official figures show there have been 13 cases of patients catching the legionella bacteria since 2002.

Chief Executive of Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Trust, Clare Panniker, said the hospital had spent £3m and introduced a number of changes in the past decade in an attempt to control legionella. She said:

"The trust has not had any cases of Legionnaire's Disease since 2011 and we will continue to work with the HSE and other experts to do all we can to combat Legionella. As new chief executive, I will be reviewing the leadership structure to ensure we have the right experience at board level."

She said that the report concluded that the current risk of contracting legionella at the hospital was about "one in a million".

The prosecution centres on an alleged breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 which refers to the duty of employers to protect non employees from "risks to their health or safety" and the first hearing in the case is expected to take place at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court at a later date.