Patients interviewed in hunt for poisoner

DETECTIVES investigating three hospital deaths are to interview 11 patients who survived the effects of tampered medication in a bid for clues to find the poisoner.

A 44-year-old woman, named locally as Tracey Elizabeth Arden, a 71-year-old man and an 84-year-old man died following the deliberate contamination of saline solution at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

Insulin was found in a batch of 36 saline ampoules in a hospital storeroom close to Ward A1 after a nurse reported a higher than normal number of patients on her ward with unexplained low blood sugar levels. The alarm was raised on Tuesday, but multiple sclerosis sufferer Ms Arden, from Stockport, died on 7 July. The two male victims, who both had serious health problems, died last week.

Greater Manchester Police's Major Incident Team is focusing its investigation from 7 July onwards, but will review previous deaths at the hospital if new information comes to light.

Meanwhile, increased security measures have been put in place at the hospital to protect patients.

Detectives believe the insulin was deliberately injected into the saline containers, but they say the deaths remain unexplained as they await post-mortem results.

A police source said: "We are no longer treating the tampered medication as a sole contaminated batch because we cannot be sure that this was the only incident of its kind.

"We will be interviewing all those who became ill from the contaminated saline to find out if they can shed any light on who is responsible."

One of the 11 surviving patients became very ill from her saline drip and has since recovered but the others were not thought to be seriously affected.

Police, who are interviewing doctors, nurses, porters, patients and visitors, have suggested to the hospital that it puts measures in place to individually search everyone at the entrances.

Assistant Chief Constable Terry Sweeney said: "I want to reassure everyone connected to the hospital- staff, patients, visitors - and the wider community that we are determined to prevent further harm and to bring the offender to justice."

Patients will continue to be reviewed in conjunction with the hospital to establish if others have been affected, he said.

All future deaths at the hospital that show any signs of relevant symptoms will be passed to South Manchester Coroner John Pollard for the foreseeable future and may be referred to detectives to investigate.

A hotline number - 0161 419 4888 - has been set up for concerned patients and relatives.