Part of the Legionella Data Index · curated record, last reviewed July 2026
| Defendant | Year | Region | Fine | Prosecutor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust Death/outbreak A cancer patient died in 2015 after exposure to legionella in a hospital ward annex. A separate water loop feeding the annex, opened in 2009, had never been temperature-checked or tested. The strain was not matched to the system, so the charge was exposing patients to risk. Source
|
2018 | South West England | £300k | HSE |
|
St Christopher's Hospice Death/outbreak The Sydenham hospice failed to appoint a competent person to control legionella in its hot and cold water system. A patient died of Legionnaires' disease in August 2012 and an orderly later spent 18 days in a coma. Convicted at Southwark Crown Court in 2016 of breaching HSWA ss.2 and 3; sentenced to a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £25,000 in costs. No fine was imposed. Recorded as a prosecution with a death rather than a fine. Source
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2016 | London | n/a | HSE |
|
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust Death/outbreak The Trust, which ran the Royal Sussex County Hospital, failed to adequately act on 114 positive legionella tests and 651 out-of-range water-temperature records between October 2010 and November 2011; chlorine dioxide dosing at five sites routinely under-delivered. The case followed the death of cancer patient Joan Rayment, 78, in November 2011. Pleaded guilty to breaching HSWA s3(1) and was fined £50,000 plus £38,705.60 costs at Lewes Crown Court in June 2015. A joint HSE and Sussex Police investigation. Source
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2015 | South East England | £50k | HSE |
|
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Death/outbreak A chronic legionella outbreak in the hospital water system in 2006 to 2007 infected seven patients; two died (James Compton, 74, and Raymond Cackett, 54). Shower heads, hoses and thermostatic controls were not maintained. The Trust admitted breaching HSWA s3(1) and was fined £100,000 for the legionella offence plus about £162,000 costs at Chelmsford Crown Court in September 2013. A larger reported total from the same hearing reflected a separate, unrelated incident. Source
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2013 | East of England | £100k | HSE |
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Lanarkshire Health Board (NHS Lanarkshire) A 64-year-old patient at Hartwoodhill Hospital contracted Legionnaires' disease in November 2008. HSE found legionella in three water sources, two (including the shower the patient used daily) matching her strain, and established that no suitable legionella risk assessment or control scheme was in place. The patient survived. Fined £24,000 under HSWA s3(1) at Hamilton Sheriff Court in January 2012. Scottish prosecution (COPFS, HSE investigation). Source
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2012 | Scotland | £24k | COPFS |
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Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospitals NHS Trust High legionella levels were found in the Audrey Leigh wing in May 2002, but the Trust stopped testing, assigned no one responsibility for managing the bacteria, and had no suitable control measures. Two patients died of Legionnaires' disease in early 2007, but HSE could not conclusively link those infections to the hospital, so the conviction is for the safety-management failing rather than for causing death. Pleaded guilty and was fined nearly £48,000 at Liverpool Magistrates' Court in 2009. Source
|
2009 | North West England | £48k | HSE |
This is a curated record of significant, well-documented cases, not a complete list of every prosecution in the sector, and it skews towards fatal and heavily reported cases. Cases with no fine (a conditional discharge, for example) count as prosecutions but add nothing to the fines total. The full record, the curation rules and the correction policy are on the Legionella Enforcement Tracker.
Past prosecutions show what courts have punished; they say nothing about any individual building. The failings that recur in these cases - no risk assessment, no written scheme, no monitoring records, warnings ignored - are exactly what the baseline controls address, and our sector guide for hospitals and healthcare premises walks through them.
Free legionella risk assessment template
A structured Word document following the five-step approach in ACOP L8. Covers risk identification, written scheme, monitoring, and records. If it isn't written down, you can't evidence it.
Follows ACoP L8 and HSG274 Part 2. Free. No spam.