The daughters of a 91-year-old woman who died after contracting Legionnaires’ disease at her care home have called for more rigorous checks in residential facilities for the bacteria because her death “could have been avoided”.
Rhoda Freedman, from Ilford, London, moved to live in Wensley House Care Home in Epping, Essex, in 2023 and died at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow on 13 May 2024.
Legionnaires’ disease is a serious lung infection transmitted by inhaling droplets of infected water.
Rhoda’s daughters, Aileen Pearl and Irma Harmsworth, said they were “shocked” and “disappointed” by their mum’s death as it was “totally preventable”.
Harmsworth, a retired admin worker who lives in Billericay, Essex, said her mum had chosen to move into a care home after her legs began giving way.
Rhoda, who was deaf and a wheelchair user, had several health conditions that were all controlled with medication.
Harmsworth said: “She had medication but there was nothing that we expected to shorten her life.
“She was absolutely fine until then.”
Pearl said her mum was happy at Wensley House and they had decorated it to match her living room in her London home.
After their mother became ill and was taken to hospital, the doctors had asked the sisters if she had been abroad or anywhere with air conditioning, aside from the care home.
Pearl said: “That’s when they told me she had contracted Legionnaires’ disease, which was such a shock, you don’t tend to hear of it in this day and age because it’s totally preventable.
“It is very disappointing, it is something that could have been avoided.”