Two NHS trusts have come under fire by the Healthcare Commission (HC) for their failure to tackle an outbreak of the clostridium difficile (C.difficile) infection over a period of two years.
The watchdog's report criticised NHS trusts at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, for a "litany" of errors that they claim resulted in the deaths of at least 90 patients and was a factor in the deaths of a further 241.
HC officials found that nurses at the hospitals in question were too busy to wash their hands, and left patients lying in soiled beds.
Health secretary Alan Johnson called the findings "a scandal", however he denied accusations that the problems were due to government targets for A and E departments.
"There is no excuse for what happened at this particular trust," he added.
Responding to the allegations, the NHS trusts said they were not adequately prepared for "an outbreak of that size and complexity" and they had learnt from their mistakes.
C.difficile is a bacterial infection of the gut mainly affecting the elderly.
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