Andrew Clegg died after contracting Legionnaires' disease at Sentinel run Fordingbridge Care Home

Andrew Clegg was a resident of Fordingbridge Care Home in Station Road, which is run by Sentinel Healthcare, and died nearly two weeks after being admitted to Salisbury District Hospital in October 2017.

Today, a jury at his inquest in Salisbury found that Mr Clegg had contracted Legionella pneumonia while at the home.

The inquest heard one of Mr Clegg's regular carers had been worried about his condition and a GP who attended the home admitted him to hospital urgently on October 23.

A urine sample taken from Mr Clegg found an "unusual" type of pneumonia, Legionella pneumonia, a complication arising from the Legionella bacteria.

As his condition worsened he was transferred to the intensive care unit, and after a brief improvement in his condition he died on November 5, 2017.

Legionella is a naturally occurring bacteria found primarily in lakes rivers and ponds, but it can also be found in mains water.

Dr Susanne Lee, an expert on the bacteria, had told the inquest the design of the care home's water system was "not ideal" as the hot and cold water pipes were in close proximity. The bacteria grows in "relatively" warm water.

She had found previous cold water temperature records had on occasion been "over and above" what they should have been.

In a joint statement, Mr Clegg's siblings Joanne Denyer and Matt Clegg, said: “Andy was a loving and generous soul and the pain and suffering he experienced in the days before he died remains with us.

“The last few days have been incredibly difficult but we were determined to honour Andy’s memory by obtaining the answers he deserved."

They added: “We entrusted Sentinel to look after Andy but our family find it difficult not to think we were let down with terrible consequences.

“All we can hope for now is that his death was not totally in vain and his death reinforces how dangerous Legionnaire’s can be.

"It is vital that businesses and public bodies ensure they take all necessary steps to prevent others contracting the disease.”

Jatinder Paul, a specialist public health lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, who represented Mr Clegg's family, said after the hearing: “Andy’s death has had a profound effect on all of his family. For the last 16 months they have had a number of concerns which have been ignored by Sentinel until today when they finally accepted that Andy contracted Legionnaires’ disease at the Fordingbridge Care Home, and this ultimately, caused his untimely death.

“Whilst nothing can ever make up for Andy’s death we are pleased that the hearing has helped answer the family’s concerns and we are pleased the coroner will now write to the Care Quality Commission to raise his concerns that more needs to be done for the training of inspectors in water safety to prevent future deaths from Legionnaires’ disease in the care setting."