MP DEMANDS HOSPITAL ENQUIRY

Local MP Nigel Waterson is demanding an independent review into the recent spate of deaths caused by the Clostridium Difficile outbreak at Eastbourne DGH. Mr. Waterson has written to Health Secretary Alan Johnson.

Nigel said today: “I am deeply saddened and hugely concerned by these 13 C.Diff-related deaths, and I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the families involved. I am asking the Health Secretary to do two things.”

“As a matter of urgency, I am asking him to check that all possible outside help is being made available to my local hospital so that this outbreak can be brought to an end as soon as possible. This problem has been evident for at least three months. It now needs to be stopped in days rather than weeks, so that my elderly and frail constituents can feel totally safe going into hospital.”

“Also, I am asking Alan Johnson to order a full independent review into the outbreak and the deaths. It is clear that the DGH has been struggling to contain and eradicate the outbreak. Yet so far they have been unsuccessful. But the other hospital in the same Trust – the Conquest in Hastings – does not appear to have had the same problems.”

“I also want to know more about the ages of those who died and exactly when they died. Were deaths on this scale happening weeks or even months ago, or is this a recent development? Should these deaths have been announced earlier, and the Health Protection Agency brought in? Have all unexpected deaths been reported routinely to the Board?”

“These are just some of the questions that need an answer. Important lessons need to be learned. The families affected deserve no less.”

25 March 2009