Deaths from Clostridium difficile infection at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
NHS South East Coast commissioned Verita to carry out a thorough review of the role of executive and non-executive board members and their actions before, during and after two outbreaks of Clostridium difficile infection that led to the deaths of 90 patients.
Verita concluded that major failings in the trust's governance structure and processes had contributed to the deaths and put forward an improvement programme that was subsequently shared across the NHS. The Healthcare Commission (now the Care Quality Commission) recommended that NHS South East Coast use Verita to carry out this review.