In 2012 an elderly gentleman contracted Legionnaires’ disease whilst receiving care in a Council run Care Home.
He had been in hospital having sustained a broken leg and was receiving care before a planned return home.
Within weeks he was re-admitted to hospital where he proved positive for Legionnaires’ disease and subsequently died.
The Care Home had failings in the control and management needed to ensure that the risk of Legionnaires’ disease was at a minimum.
The resulting court case found that;
- The Legionella Training for key personnel was significantly below standard.
- There were inadequate temperature checks carried out.
- Showers were not descaled and disinfected as required.
- Flushing of little used outlets was the responsibility of one member of staff and in their absence, this did not take place.
The Council responsible for the Care Home was fined £100k with £20k costs.
After the hearing the HSE asserted that there had been a history of Legionella problems at the care home and that the Legionella Training fell below the standard required.
If your facility does not have the required trained staff and you are not complying with the Approved Code of Practice L8, HSG 274 or HTM0401 contact Collaton Consultancy Ltd and we will help you to put in place a training package and advise on control measures to prevent this happening to you.
Our online training courses can be found at www.collatonconsultancy.com/online training.htm
Contact us on general@collatonconsultancy.com or phone on +44(0)7958 124563
Legionella Risk Management 