NHS delayed deadly meningitis outbreak warnings by two days and 'put lives at risk'

Officials at the UK Health Security Agency were first made aware of a case involved in the deadly outbreak on the afternoon of Friday, March 13.

But the patient, believed to be a 21-year-old student, had arrived at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate two days earlier.

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This delay occurred despite it being a legal requirement for cases to be reported immediately and hindered the process of tracing close contacts of the patient.

It also slowed the identification of a wider outbreak.

The hospital - which is run by East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust - admitted to the blunder, with staff claiming they had waited until there was a formal diagnosis via a confirmed test.

Dr Des Holden, Acting Chief Executive of East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, told LBC the first patient presented on Wednesday evening, March 11.

“We recognise there was an opportunity prior to diagnosis being confirmed on Friday 13 March to notify UKHSA," he said.

"We cannot go into the detail of individual patients’ care, but the Trust has been in close contact with UKHSA since Friday 13 March to discuss the management of patients presenting with suspected meningitis."

Medical experts have slammed the hospital for this setback, saying the delayed health warnings could have put more people at risk, as those developing symptoms could have sought medical help sooner.

The outbreak left two people dead and four still fighting for the lives in intensive care as of Monday, with a further 17 cases recorded.

Invasive meningitis is classed as an urgent notifiable disease, so under Health Protection Regulations 2010, it is a requirement to report cases to health protection officials as soon as a case is suspected.

Hospitals do not have to wait for tests and a formal diagnosis.

Of the 23 suspected cases, ten reported developing symptoms between the first admission and the warning issued by UKHSA on Sunday, March 15, figures show.

"Delaying reporting a case is indefensible," said Prof Paul Hunter, an expert in infectious disease at the University of East Anglia.

"You don't wait for a formal diagnosis when it comes to meningitis – you report it straight away so it can be investigated.

"Not only do you want to trace the close contacts to give them preventative treatment, you also want to see if there are other cases developing."

Quick treatment could massively boost chances of survival and the avoiding of life-changing disabilities such as loss of limbs and blindness, Prof Hunter added.

East Kent was also accused of being slow to react to subsequent cases, with UKSHA claiming it was only notified by the trust about more cases on Saturday evening, despite more patients arriving with suspected meningitis at its services on Friday.

It was unclear what impact this had on identifying whether there was a cluster of cases, UKSHA said.

The health body added that it would have started investigating what was happening sooner, as well as giving antibiotics to close contacts of the patient to prevent anyone developing invasive meningitis.

However, it said there were no confirmed cases linked to this individual so far.