Superbug Families Have a 'Strong Case'

- 02 January 2008;Used with kind permission of Kent Messenger

A SOLICITOR acting for families of victims of a hospital superbug believes they have a "strong" case against the NHS Trust whose care they have been under.

Canterbury-based lawyer Sarah Harman is representing more than 20 families of relatives who had Clostridium Difficile (C –diff) while under the care of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

Ms Harman said they include relatives of those who had survived the bug, but whose quality of life had suffered.

She said: "I think there may be even more people affected than the healthcare Commission report suggested."

The case will not be brought as a group action, but will all rely on similar evidence, the majority of which will be the Healthcare Commission report itself, which was heavily critical of the handling of the outbreaks by the Trust management in the charge at the time.