Legal Claims

- 18 April 2008;Kent Messenger

By Mary Graham

FAMILIES suing the NHS over its handling of deadly superbug outbreaks have pledged to turn down cash offers and fight for the answers as to why their loved ones died.

But the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, at the centre of the C-diff scandal, said it has already offered apologies and explanations.

About 20 families who are at different stages of medical negligence claims against the trust met at the Hilton Hotel, Maidstone, on Monday night.

Their solicitor, Sarah Harman, said: "The trust has already made some financial offers but with no admission of responsibility and no response to the details of the claims. They made a lot of noise after the publication of the Healthcare Commission's report but have made no individual admissions of liability."

The report revealed 90 people who had C-diff had died between 2004 and 2006 at the trust's hospitals.

Last week, Ms Harman told the Kent Messenger the relatives' claims amounted to less than the £250,000 pay-off being pursued by the trust's former chief executive, Rose Gibb.

Patricia Grant, of Clarence Court, Grove Green, Maidstone, lost her mother, Emily Laming, 91, in May 2006.

She said: "I have seen my mum's medical notes and the parts concerning her diarrhoea and C-diff diagnosis are utterly confusing. I want them to admit that with my mother things went absolutely wrong and she did not have proper care."

A trust spokesman, in a statement, said it had apologised to relatives and patients in October immediately after the Healthcare Commission report. It reiterated that apology.

The statement said in November it had set up a public helpline and its chief executive, Glenn Douglas, had met several families to go through medical records.

Stephen Walker, chief executive of the NHS Litigation Authority, which is handling the claims, said: "The trust has agreed lots of things went wrong, but that does not mean everyone who claims is going to succeed."

The NHS Litigation Authority has invited C-diff victims' relatives wanting detailed explanations to write to them. The address is Stephen Walker, NHS Litigation Authority, Napier House, 24 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6AZ