The Feathers Hotel in Ludlow reopening today
Joint statement from Public Health England West Midlands and Shropshire Council
The Feathers Hotel in Ludlow will be reopening for guests today (Wednesday 15 November 2017).
The hotel was asked to close as a precautionary measure on the advice of health professionals from Public Health England (PHE) West Midlands and Shropshire Council, following an incident of Legionnaires’ disease at the hotel in July.
Since its closure, work has been carried out by the hotel management on advice from health specialists to identify possible sources of contamination and carry out remedial works. The hotel has also ensured that the necessary procedures are in place to manage and maintain the water system at the hotel and that thorough and ongoing controls and monitoring will be carried out by the hotel on a regular basis.
Final samples taken to verify that all necessary work has been effective, have come back satisfactory.
It is the duty of hotels in Shropshire to suitably manage and control the risks associated with legionella and Shropshire Council have provided further advice to premises in Shropshire on the necessary management and controls that should be implemented. Both Public Health England West Midlands and Shropshire Council have been working closely to ensure all necessary work has been undertaken and will continue to monitor the implementation of management controls at the hotel over the coming months.
Shropshire Council and Public Health England West Midlands are of course mindful of the sad death of the lady who had been a visitor at the hotel, and would like to offer their sincere condolences to the families affected by this very unfortunate incident. The health and safety of residents and visitors in Shropshire is a key priority and Shropshire Council will always strongly encourage employers in the county, to make health and safety improvements that protect their customers and staff.
Shropshire Council is now at the early stages of a formal investigation under the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974 into the incident and this is likely to take a significant period of time to complete.
Further information
The move to close the hotel followed laboratory test results establishing links between Legionella bacteria found in water samples from the hotel plumbing and two separate, confirmed cases of Legionnaires disease in guests (both from Merseyside) who stayed at the hotel. The first case was diagnosed in April 2017 and has recovered. Sadly, the most recently diagnosed individual, who stayed at the hotel in July, has died.
