• A woman has been arrested on suspicion of tampering with saline bags at an acute hospital trust
  • The 24 year old is a member of staff at North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust
  • Staff at the trust raised the alarm in January after discovering a “small number” of saline bags had been tampered with

Police have arrested an employee of an acute hospital trust on suspicion of tampering with saline bags.

A 24 year old woman, who works at North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust, was arrested this morning on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice and appearing to contaminate goods.

The trust raised the alarm in January after a member of staff discovered “a small number of saline bags” at Cumberland Infirmary Carlisle that appeared to have been tampered with.

Senior clinicians were alerted immediately and the trust said it followed its serious incident procedures.

A spokeswoman for the trust said it had been working with Cumbria Police since the incident on 4 January.

She added: “The trust can confirm that a member of staff has been arrested in connection with the incident and we continue to support Cumbria Police with their investigation.

“It is important for the trust to reiterate that there has been no patient harm or adverse effects related to this incident.”

It is not known how many saline bags were tampered with, or what position the woman, from Wigton, held at the trust.

Source

Trust and police statements

Source date

14 July 2017

Topics