Cheltenham hospital admits failing man who died after using contaminated shower

Chris Elliot was exposed to ‘lethal dose’ of bacteria while receiving chemotherapy from Gloucestershire NHS trust

An NHS trust has admitted to failing to provide safe care to a man who died after using a contaminated shower in a hospital while undergoing chemotherapy.

Chris Elliot, 59, a father of two, died a fortnight after he was admitted to Cheltenham general hospital in Gloucestershire to be treated for leukaemia.

The bacteria pseudomonas aeruginosa had been found on a shower head in the room Elliot used more than a week before he was admitted but no action had been taken, a hearing before a district judge in Cheltenham heard.

His widow, Victoria Elliot, accused Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS foundation trust of systemic failings during the hearing. She said it had been up to the family to uncover what had happened, and criticised the trust for delaying admitting liability.

In a victim personal statement, Victoria Elliot said her husband’s death had left “a chasm” in the family’s lives and told the court: “He was treated with a mixture of arrogance, incompetence and a cavalier attitude to his safety.”

She said his weakened immune system had made him a “sitting duck”, adding: “Chris had absolutely no chance of survival, showering every day in his isolation room in a lethal dose of bacteria. Chris’s death occurred in great part as a result of the abject failure of care by the very people tasked with looking after him.”

Victoria Elliot continued: “My own grief has been wedged between Chris’s death and the hideous ordeal of getting to the bottom of how he died. The impact of Chris’s death on me and my family has been compounded by the battle I have had to fight for the truth.

“I question how an organisation whose raison d’être is meant to be to care for the patient and his/her relatives should use every opportunity to delay admitting liability.”

The trust admitted failing to provide safe care and treatment, a criminal offence under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. It was fined £300,000. Outside court, Victoria Elliot called the sum derisory.

James Marsland, for the Care Quality Commission, which brought the prosecution, said pseudomonas aeruginosa had been confirmed by a laboratory on a shower head in a side room at the Rendcomb ward, which specialises in treating oncology (cancer) and haematology patients, on 1 August 2022.

Testing and sampling of water had been delegated to a company called Gloucestershire Managed Services (GMS), which is owned by the trust, Marsland said.

But he told the court there was “no independent evidence” that GMS had taken any action. It did not report it to the ward manager or the infection prevention and control team. Marsland said: “Reporting was required – it didn’t happen.” The room and shower head remained in use.

Marsland said the trust’s oversight of GMS had not been sufficient and told the court that the trust’s water safety group had failed to meet for nine months, when it should have met every three.

Elliot, who worked at Tata Steel, was admitted on 9 August 2022. He was allocated the room with the contaminated shower head, became infected with pseudomonas aeruginosa and died on 23 August. Marsland said it was “highly likely” the infection had been the cause of his death.

Paul Greaney KC, for the trust, apologised to the family. He said that if GMS had reported that the shower head was contaminated, it would have taken it out of use.

District judge Wattam said he felt the trust was remorseful and had taken remedial action following Elliot’s death.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa , also known as P aeruginosa , is a type of bacteria that can live in damp areas such as taps, shower heads, face flannels and sponges.