NHS sandwich listeria outbreak victim from Ashford calls for public inquiry
15:43, 10 June 2019
updated: 11:46, 11 June 2019
A mother-of-one who contracted a listeria infection from a pre-packed hospital sandwich has called for an enquiry, after three people died from eating food from the same supplier.
Tanya Marston, from Ashford, was one of six people diagnosed with listeriosis after consuming food from NHS supplier The Good Food Chain.
Ms Marston was just days from discharging herself from the William Harvey Hospital on May 29, when her temperature spiked.
Following an extensive stay - receiving treatment for her Crohn's Disease - she was desperate to return home, but her temperature spiked in the early hours of May 27.
Rising to 39.4 degrees the following morning, the sister in charge of the ward took blood tests to ensure nothing was amiss.
Ms Marston went home the next day after a day of no temperature jumps, but 16 hours after walking through her front door she received a phone call.
"At about 4pm they called me to say I had listeria show up in my test, and that I should come back before the end of the day," said the 38-year-old, "He said there was already a bed waiting for me and I would have to be there for a few days.
"At that point I was crying on the phone because I didn't want to go back. I was quite poorly and I knew that was part of the package when discharging myself, but I was so weak I though maybe I need to go."
Listeria bacteria cause listeriosis, which can cause diarrhoea, fever, headaches and muscle pain. In certain people - pregnant mums, the young and old, and those with weakened immune systems - it can cause death.
Ms Marston Crohn's means she has a weaker immunity to infections.
She was later told that her case could have been linked to similar ones across the country, which at the time she'd heard nothing about.
When a staff member told her about deaths possibly connected to infected sandwiches she couldn't believe it and said "there was nothing in the news so I thought nothing of it - it was just a rumour."
However, news broke more recently that six people were diagnosed with listeria between April 25 and May 15, with three people dying in hospitals in Manchester and Liverpool.
The only connection between the patients was that they'd eaten pre-packed sandwiches from NHS supplier, The Good Food Chain.
Following a course of IV antibiotics, she has returned home and has to take 16 antibiotic pills a day for two weeks on top of her Crohn's medication.
"I don't know who I'd go to, but I think an inquiry needs to be conducted to find out what's gone wrong..." Tanya Marston
Speaking about the experience - her first hospital stint after being diagnosed with Crohn's ten years ago - she said: "It's frustrating but I feel quite lucky as potentially I could have died.
"Had it not been for the fast action of the sister and hospital, it could've been different. I could have gone home without testing and I could have been the fourth death.
"I don't know where the liability lands for this - it seems like they're all passing the buck onto other people.
"I don't know who I'd go to, but I think an inquiry needs to be conducted to find out what's gone wrong.
"Public Health England hasn't done a good job. The information they've released has been inaccurate, and they haven't listed the local hospital trust among those affected.
"That means someone could be walking around with a deadly listeria bug, and that's concerning.
"The issue needs to come out and if I can help protect people or make them aware that this could be an issue, then I feel I'll have done my job.
"I think it's important for the people around the town to know that this has happened.
"I'm not implicating the hospital or staff, they've acted well in terms of how they dealt with my care.
"Whether they had a duty of care to check the sandwiches, that's a different question."
The sandwiches have since been withdrawn, and The Good Food Chain has voluntarily ceased production while investigations are ongoing.
Meat produced by their supplier North Country Cooked Meats has tested positive for the bug, and they and their distributor North Country Quality Foods have also halted operations while the case is investigated.
Dr Nick Phin, deputy director at the National Infection Service at Public Health England said: "Our thoughts are with the families of those patients who have died. We, along with the FSA, colleagues in local authorities and the NHS have worked quickly to determine the likely cause of this outbreak and taken action to reduce the risk to the public’s health.
"To date, there have been no associated cases identified outside healthcare organisations, and any risk to the public is low."
Dr Colin Sullivan, chief operating officer at the Food Standards Agency said: "Our sympathies are with the families of those patients who have tragically passed away.
"We have taken action along with local authorities to minimise the risk based on the evidence so far. The FSA will continue to investigate how the outbreak occurred and if further steps are required to protect vulnerable groups."
