Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust is a large NHS Trust in the British National Health Service that manages hospitals in the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells region in Kent.
It was heavily criticized in 2007 by the Healthcare Commission regarding its handling of a major outbreak of Clostridium difficile in its hospitals from April 2004 to September 2006. In its report, the Commission estimated that about 90 patients "definitely or probably" died as a result of the infection.
The Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson, described the 90 patients' deaths as "scandalous".
In a subsequent investigation by the Healthcare Commission the outbreak was connected to the financial reorganisations that the hospital trust was undergoing, such as its private finance initiative. In this regard, Richard James, Professor of Microbiology at Nottingham University noted striking parallels with Stoke Mandeville hospital, which experienced a severe C. difficile outbreak in 2003-5. [1]
Healthcare Commission report:
News reports: