No criminal charges over C diff deaths

More than 50 people were infected with C diff during the outbreak at the Vale of Leven Hospital, in Dunbartonshire, between December 2007 and June 2008.

Last year, prosecutors received a report that identified failures in hygiene and infection control at the site.

In a statement the Crown Office said: ‘Crown counsel have instructed that there should be no criminal proceedings in relation to the outbreak.’

‘The families of those people who were directly affected by the outbreak were informed of this decision earlier this week.’

The Health and Safety Executive and Strathclyde Police aided the area Procurator Fiscal in his investigation of the incident, and the full findings were reported to Crown Counsel earlier this month.

The statement continued: ‘After careful consideration of all the facts of circumstances, Crown Counsel concluded that there should be no criminal proceedings arising from the circumstances surrounding the outbreak.’

Theresa Fyffe, director of RCN Scotland, hailed the decision, saying criminal proceedings ‘would not necessarily have found the answers that the families of those who died deserve’.

‘Health boards need to ensure that they learn from what happened and implement any changes necessary to try to minimise the chances of such an outbreak in the future,’ she said.

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