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An investigation on the water supply system of the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Trust initiated by the HSE revealed that it had significant amounts of legionella bacteria present in it.

The NHS Trust was fined 35,000 pounds and was asked to pay costs of 12,862 pounds at Liverpool Magistrates Court for the breach of Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 as it exposed workers and patients to a risk of contamination.

During the enquiry, it was found that there were dangerous levels of legionella in the water of showers, sinks and baths of the hospital. However, the investigators failed to ascertain if the two deaths that had occurred in the hospital due to legionnaires’ disease in early 2007 had been caused by the hospital’s water.

It was also revealed in court that the NHS Trust had stopped testing the water supply system even after it was found that there were high levels of legionella present in the water of the Audrey Leigh wing of the hospital in 2002.

HSE sent out strict warnings to all health establishments after the findings of the enquiry came to the fore, and heavily criticized the NHS Trust for not taking the required safety measures to curb the growth of the bacteria. HSE also slammed the hospital management for its total lack of responsibility in accepting accountability.

HSE inspector Kevin Jones said that it was highly irresponsible on part of the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Trust to show such an unconcerned attitude towards the contamination of its water. He added that it was clear that the hospital water had been contaminated, and that it was a wrong move on the management’s part to cancel all the tests. Further, he said that since the patients at the hospital were highly susceptible to the disease, better measures should have been taken to safeguard their health.

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