A 'LOVING and generous' man died of legionnaires' disease contracted at a care home.

Jurors who heard the inquest into the death of Andy Clegg reached their verdict on Thursday. Mr Clegg, who was 54, died nearly two weeks after he was admitted to Salisbury District Hospital from Fordingbridge Care Home. He had been diagnosed with legionella pneumonia, a complication arising from the legionella bacteria.

Mr Clegg moved to the care home in April 2017 to receive help for mental health difficulties. The home is run by Sentinel Healthcare.

He was admitted to hospital on October 24 2017 but died on November 5.

Speaking after the inquest, Andy’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.

“For more than 16 months, our family have had to try and come to terms with what happened while having many questions about the events that unfolded in the lead up to Andy’s death.

“The last few days have been incredibly difficult but we were determined to honour Andy’s memory by obtaining the answers he deserved. We would like to thank our legal team for their ongoing support and guidance, and the coroner and the jury for listening to the evidence and answering the many questions we had.

“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 this illness can be. It is vital that businesses and public bodies ensure they take all necessary steps to prevent others contracting the disease.”

Jatinder Paul, public health lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, the law firm which represented Mr Clegg's family, said: “Andy’s death has had a profound effect on all of his family.

"For the past 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.

"This, ultimately, caused his untimely death.

“While 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.

“The coroner has also announced his intention to write to the Royal Institute of British Architects to consider the layout and design of buildings in the care setting to reduce risk of growth of the Legionella bacteria.

“We will continue to support Jo, Matt and the rest of Andy’s family at this difficult time and continue to help them honour their memory of Andy.”