Tracey Huffer, Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow East and a practising nurse, is calling for Shropshire Council to hold an urgent scrutiny meeting to review the deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease. She says:
“This is a very rare event. The hotel has responded by closing for the time being. But we need to ensure that lessons are learnt and there is no repeat anywhere else in Shropshire.
“To the best of my knowledge, this is the first outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the county. I desperately hope that no one else that stayed at the Feathers has been affected by this nasty pathogen.
“We need to understand why this occurred. We need to know that the right actions were taken after the presence of Legionella was discovered months ago in the hotel.
“The best way to deal with this is to call an immediate meeting of Shropshire Council’s Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee. We can then set out a workplan to ensure that we learn everything we need to learn about this tragic incident.
“We can’t deal with this behind closed doors. Shropshire Council should take the lead and build up public confidence that this is a one off event. To do any less would damage our county’s reputation as one of the best tourist destinations in the country.”