Widow's anguish after MRSA tragedy

FILTHY wards and poor working conditions are killing patients at the Conquest Hospital, says a widow. Marion Ham, whose husband David died after contracting the MRSA superbug during a routine operation, says he was treated in conditions 'worse than a public toilet'.

She believes she could win thousands of pounds in damages, but would rather see the money spent on improving the hospital.

Mrs Ham, of Amherst Road, Bexhill, said: "Before he went into hospital, my husband was a perfectly healthy 60-year-old man.

"His only gripe was that he had difficulty catching his breath after strenuous exercise, so the doctor referred him to the Conquest to have a chest drain fitted.

"This is a very minor procedure, and he was due to be out of hospital within a few days. But three weeks after going in, he was dead."

Mr Ham, a care worker in the Hastings and Bexhill area, had the drain fitted while in his bed on the Tressell ward.

Though it is 'normal practice' for such minor operations to be carried out on wards, a senior consultant at the Conquest later told Mrs Ham doctors feel it is unsatisfactory.

It was only after Mr Ham's death that MRSA was found around the operation site. A post-mortem confirmed it had been the cause of his death.

Mrs Ham said: "More patients will be infected with killer hospital infections unless things improve drastically.

"Doctors are being forced to carry out minor operations on wards, which are not sterile environments and where there is hardly enough room to walk between the beds.