19 October 2007
The former chair of the trust at the centre of the Clostridium difficile row hit back this week, insisting the hospital had been close to insolvency.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson accepted James Lee's resignation as chair of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust on October 15. He also announced a Department of Health inquiry into Lee's role in arranging a reported £250,000 payoff for former chief executive Rose Gibb. Johnson has ordered the trust to withhold the payment pending legal advice. Lee has denied any impropriety.
Last week, the Healthcare Commission said more than 1,000 patients were infected with the bacterium in outbreaks between April 2004 and September 2006. The infections caused the deaths of at least 21 and probably 90 patients, it said.
In a letter to Johnson, Lee accepted his share of the blame but said Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells was being singled out when many others had worse infection rates. He said the trust had been forced to make cuts to balance its books — while its income had increased by 1.5% in cash terms last year, staff pay had risen by more than 5%.
'We have been struggling with a state pretty close to bankruptcy,' he said.
PFoct2007
