Labour MP calls on hospitals to stop sourcing food from outside suppliers after listeria outbreak

MP Lucy Powell calls on hospitals to stop sourcing food from outside suppliers after listeria outbreak kills five patients

  • Hospitals should stop sourcing food from outside suppliers a Labour MP has said
  • Lucy Powell, Manchester Central, said this would stop future listeria outbreaks
  • She also hit out at the ‘wall of silence’ from authorities over the scandal

Hospitals must stop sourcing food from outside suppliers to prevent future listeria cases, the MP for one of the trusts at the centre of the scandal has urged.

Lucy Powell, Labour MP for Manchester Central, also criticised the refusal of medical authorities to release details of the victims of the listeria outbreak.

Miss Powell hit out at the ‘wall of silence’ after the Daily Mail led calls for more transparency over the scandal.

Two of the five infected patients who died had been treated at Manchester Royal Infirmary in her constituency.

Hospitals must stop sourcing food from outside suppliers in order to prevent future listeria cases, the MP for one of the trusts at the scandals centre has said. The Good Food Chain, which supplied meat infected with the bacteria (Pictured above) 

Leading microbiologist Professor Hugh Pennington has said disclosing the sex and age of the victims would help doctors identify the groups most at risk.

But Public Health England and the affected trusts have refused to release information about those who died, citing patient confidentiality.

The infection has been traced to sandwiches supplied by the Good Food Chain, which had been provided meat by North Country Cooked Meats, based in Salford.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Miss Powell said: ‘This growth in outsourcing is leading to some real safety issues and potentially to these deaths themselves.’

In response, Health Secretary Matt Hancock promised a ‘root and branch’ reform of NHS hospital food.

Labour MP for Manchester Central Lucy Powell hit out at the 'wall of silence' around the scandal

Labour MP for Manchester Central Lucy Powell hit out at the ‘wall of silence’ around the scandal 

Yesterday Miss Powell told the Daily Mail she welcomed the Government’s pledge for a review, but added: ‘The public at large and other patients need more assurance.

‘Whilst respecting the wishes of the families involved, rather than putting up a wall of silence, agencies should be more open and transparent.’

Inquests are due to be opened today into businessman Ian Hitchcock, 52, the first named victim, and a second, so far unnamed, patient in Manchester.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk