No charges over C.diff outbreak that killed 90

Hospital bosses will not be charged over Britain's worst superbug outbreak which led to the deaths of 90 patients, it was announced today.

Although an official report blamed a string of failures at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust for the outbreak of Clostridium difficile, Kent police and the Health and Safety Executive said they would not prosecute because of "insufficient information".

Before the scale of deaths emerged, the trust's chief executive Rose Gibb left by mutual consent. The trust said that she would receive half her annual salary as a pay-off, believed to be up to £150,000.

"HSE shares the police's conclusion that, from the information available, we cannot establish with certainty a causal link between failings to manage infection and the death of any particular person," said Sandra Caldwell, HSE deputy chief executive.

"The trust has acknowledged that mistakes were made and their senior management team has changed substantially."

A Healthcare Commission report said the 90 patients died due to two infection outbreaks in early 2005 and early 2006 when nurses were too busy to wash their hands and left patients to lie in their own excrement. C.diff causes severe diarrhoea.

Today Ms Gibb's husband claimed she had been made a "political scapegoat" and that she was pleased to escape prosecution. Mark Rees, former-chief executive of the failing Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS trust, said: "Rose is pleased by this announcement. We are extremely sorry to all the families and wish the NHS concentrate on the real issues, but we hope that the deflection of the real issues and political scapegoating now stops."

Ann Widdecombe, Tory MP for Maidstone and the Weald, said: "I am grateful for the very thorough investigation carried out by Kent Police and the Health and Safety Executive. As the necessary corporate manslaughter law did not apply at the times of these deaths, I accept that there is no likelihood of any successful criminal action and that any attempt to mount a prosecution would only prolong the uncertainty of the bereaved and inevitably end in further disappointment."

Campaigners today criticised the decision not to prosecute. Geoff Martin of campaign group Health Emergency said: "This sends out completely the wrong signal. It suggests that despite more catastrophes in the NHS, individuals and organisations will not be called to account. It is a real kick in the teeth for the friends and relatives of those who died in this tragedy."

Albert Ellam, who lost his wife and daughter to C.diff at Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, said "It's an absolute disgrace. It's unbelievable, someone has to take responsibility for these deaths. To not prosecute these people just defies belief."

At the time Malcolm Stewart, medical director of the trust, apologised for the tragedy but could not explain why the hygiene code had been left off the board agenda for five months.