FOR JUSTICE
In March 1996, I was asked by St Thomas's
Hospital to counsel the patient, who was dying and in isolation because
of MRSA (a common hospital-acquired infection). He was also being checked
for TB, I was told. I agreed to go and visit. I spent one and a half hours
with this patient on two occasions. I was anxious about the possible risks
of MDRTB in the light of the outbreak a year earlier at the Chelsea and
Westminster Hospital. He was not in isolation but I had insisted on a
gown and gloves. What I did not know at that time was that the mask was
a surgical mask and totally ineffective in preventing infection.
Unfortunately St Thomas's did not share my anxiety. For example, patients
with confirmed or suspected TB were, at that time, nursed on the Aids
ward alongside the most highly immuno-compromised and vulnerable of patients.
Rooms were used that were thought to be pressure-neutral or negative rooms
but in fact were pressure-positive, thereby sending air and likely infection
out into the ward and also greatly increasing risk to visitors. No obvious
restrictions on visitors or warnings were given.
Initially I tested negative for six months. Then I tested positive for
TB and later MDRTB. I spent long periods in isolation, both in hospital
and at home. The end result is that over these past years any hospitalisation
means a return to isolation, the most recent of which was for two months
last summer. Living with HIV was always difficult, but having to face
MDRTB with all that it implies is a living nightmare!
I decided to take legal action, knowing that any claim had to be initiated
within three years of the event. I contacted the Legal Services team at
the Terrence Higgins Trust and they put me into contact with a barrister
who offered free legal advice. He was
page 2 of 6
contents
of issue 77
back
issues
the
gazette
recipes
small
ads
contacting
us
weblinks
adamant that there was more than likely a case to answer and put me in
