LONDON, July 25 (UPI) -- A British National Health System trust could face negligence charges after a deadly hospital bug killed at least 33 patients over two years.
The Independent said a report links two outbreaks of Clostridium difficile at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire to poor management.
The report said hospital managers repeatedly ignored warnings from infection-control specialists and failed to follow advice on stopping infection because they "mistakenly prioritized" other objectives, such as hitting government targets and curbing spending.
The Healthcare Commission, which carried out the inquiry, has ordered every NHS hospital in England to review infection control procedures in light of the findings.
The Health Protection Agency said cases of C. difficile infection in Britain rose 17.2 percent to 51,690 in 2005, the newspaper said.
Three senior managers at Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Stoke Mandeville and two other hospitals, are leaving their posts in wake of the review, the newspaper said.
