Woman suffering from MS revealed as one of victims of 'angel of death' hospital poisoner



Patients given dangerous insulin and saline combination, murder method used by Beverley Allitt

Police increase hospital security following deaths

11 other victims are recovering in hospital

Hotline set up for concerned patients and their families



Victim: Tracey Elizabeth Arden, 44, died after being poisoned by a saline solution containing insulin at Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport

Detectives investigating a hospital poisoner who has killed three patients will interview 11 patients who survived the effects of tampered medication.

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 July 7.



She had been admitted to the hospital for routine drug treatment.



The two male victims, who both had serious health problems, died this week.

Detectives do know whether the killer is a visitor at the hospital or an employee there. Security has been stepped up, with the use of searches and entry restrictions.

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

Police believe the insulin was deliberately injected into the saline containers which were used by at least two wards but they say the deaths remain unexplained as they await post-mortem results.

Guards at Stepping Hill: Police said security has been increased at the hospital

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.

Security patrols have been stepped up as police methodically work their way through the hospital in interviewing doctors, nurses, porters, patients and visitors.

Police have suggested to the hospital that they put measures in place to individually search everyone at the entrances.

Assistant Chief Constable Terry Sweeney of Greater Manchester Police said: 'We have someone deliberately contaminating saline in the one place that people should feel they are being most cared for.

'We will be planning to take the person responsible for this contamination into custody and bring them to justice.'



Considerable concern: Mr Sweeney said that the developments had worried patients but that his officers were working with staff to get to the bottom of what had happened

He stressed it would be exceptionally difficult to prove a link between the tampering and the deaths.

'This investigation is at a very early stage and we don't know what effect, if any, the solution has had to the wellbeing of any patients,' he added.

'We have recovered a number of ampoules of solution and are working closely with the hospital to try to get to the bottom of what has happened.

'Understandably there is considerable concern within the hospital and the wider community about this.'

‘This is the one place that people should feel they are being most cared for’



Tests found 36 saline ampoules had apparently been injected with insulin, a hormone which diabetics need to regulate their blood sugar but which can kill if given to non-sufferers who have other health problems.

Police have suggested to hospital chiefs that anyone entering the hospital should be searched and a hotline has been set up for worried patients and families.

Professor Vincent Marks, author of Insulin Murders, said: 'It's very hard to prevent the possibility of something like this happening because insulin has to be so readily available in hospitals.

'But it's actually not a very effective way of killing people.

'They would fall into a coma, and these days their blood sugar would be tested and they could be given glucose and would probably recover.

'Insulin is easily detected, but the hard thing will be proving if it has contributed to the deaths.'

South Manchester coroner John Pollard has asked for any similar deaths at the hospital to be referred to him.

Mr Pollard was the coroner duped by serial killer Harold Shipman. He told the official inquiry into the murders that he had tightened up procedures.

Killer: 'Angel of death' nurse Beverley Allitt, right, with Sue Phillips and her baby daughter, Becky, who was murdered

The Stockport case has echoes of that of Beverley Allitt, a nurse who used insulin to kill four children at Grantham and Kesteven hospital in Lincolnshire between 1991 and 1993.

Yesterday worried patients and visitors at Stepping Hill said they feared a rogue health worker was responsible.

Clifford Monks, 84, who was receiving treatment for a stroke, said: ‘It sounds like another Beverley Allitt. It can only be malicious – someone who has got a grudge against the hospital or someone who is insane and sick themselves.’

In charge: Assistant Chief Constable Terry Sweeney will lead the investigation into the sabotage of saline solution with insulin at the Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport

His daughter Carol Innes, 56, said: ‘What is most worrying is how random it is. They were of all ages and male and female, so whoever did this did not care who they hurt.’

Susan Jones, 57, whose 82-year-old mother Elizabeth suffers from cancer and was discharged from Stepping Hill three days before the deaths, described the events as extremely alarming.

‘Mum was on a lot of saline during her two-week stay so we are very concerned,’ she said. ‘It makes me shudder to think it could have so easily been her.

‘There should be better measures in place to stop this happening. You expect your loved ones to be safe in hospital. This is very scary for everyone being treated here.’

Dr Chris Burke, chief executive of Stockport NHS Foundation Trust which runs the hospital, said: ‘It was the staff at the hospital who brought this matter to our attention and I’ve asked them to continue to be extra vigilant to help safeguard patients.

‘We have increased security both in terms of access to the hospital and access to medicines and already replaced all saline ampoules across the hospital.