Inquest opens into Manchester hospital deaths linked to listeria

An inquest has opened into the deaths of two hospital patients believed to have died in a listeria outbreak.

Beverley Sowah, 57, died on 26 April 2019, two weeks after being admitted to Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Enid Heap, 84, was admitted to the hospital on 25 March 2019 and died two weeks later on 6 May.

Manchester City Coroner’s Court heard both deaths were linked to listeria reported to have come from chicken sandwiches given to the patients.

The inquest will examine the production, supply and storage of the sandwiches and determine whether the women’s deaths were avoidable.

The court heard Ms Sowah, from Stretford, was served a chicken mayonnaise sandwich on the 17 April.

Tests found listeria in her blood.

Mrs Heap, from Beswick, Manchester, was served a sandwich on 18 April and listeria was identified in her blood tests three days before she died.

The jury heard evidence from the former managing director of North Country Quality Foods, Jeffrey Thomas.

Mr Thomas said the chicken was supplied to the Good Food Chain in Staffordshire, which made the sandwiches for distribution.

The court heard the batch of cooked chicken had not been tested for listeria, but that other batches had been found to have safe levels of the bacteria.

Mr Thomas told the jury about the cooking, cooling and packaging process at the factory and the labelling used to inform those who used the products once they left North Country Quality Foods, including an instruction to use within 14 days but no longer than two days after the package of cooked chicken is opened.

The jury also heard from Martin Bell, who worked for the Good Food Chain in Stone, Staffordshire that made the chicken mayonnaise sandwich eaten by both Mrs Heap and Mrs Sowah in April 2019.

The court heard that the Good Food Chain had a contract with Sodexo to supply food to Manchester Royal Infirmary and 102 other NHS sites.

Mr Bell said that his company applied “an internal use-by date” which was set at three days.

He said that the company did ongoing tests to validate their use-by policy, which was a day longer than that set by the North Country Quality Foods.

When asked if the supplier was aware of the extra use-by day, Mr Bell said that “he wasn’t sure”.

He added the company had a food hygiene rating of five, and was confident that it followed the Food Standard Agency guidelines.

The inquest is scheduled to last five days.