E.Coli - Rhondda Leader column

The issue dominating my work over the last week has of course been the E.Coli outbreak. First, let me say my thoughts and best wishes are with those families who have been directly affected by the outbreak. I have been in touch with all the schools affected in the Rhondda, and if there are practical things we can do to help, then anyone concerned should pick up the phone to my office on 685261 or 682550.

I spoke to the Health Minister Dr Brian Gibbons about the issue last week, then along with other AMs raised the matter in the Assembly Chamber. He told me – remember, this was in the early stages of the news – that there had been regular updates from the outbreak control team who had been working through the first weekend of the incident. The outbreak control teams had gone into schools, and environmental health officers had been in and also had interviewed parents and pupils affected. Schools had also been cleaned thoroughly.

Make no mistake – this is a serious outbreak. Normally in any year in Wales, there are only 30 cases. Already there are more than double that in this one outbreak. I have now written to the Assembly Government’s Health Minister, asking him to use his public health powers to conduct a formal inquiry. I believe that should look at all aspects, including the question of the information supplied to parents, the response by the agencies concerned, and particularly the management of the food supply chain into schools and other services, including the checking of suppliers' premises and facilities. If one supplier is responsible, as is widely believed, then how often has this supplier been checked and when was it last checked?

Parents have responded responsibly and sensibly to the situation. Some have asked whether the affected schools should have been closed. I well understand why people feel that way, but the difficulty I suspect lies in the incubation period of the illness. By the time cases were detected and known about, closing the schools might have been literally like shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted. But this is one of the questions an inquiry could get at, and I will continue to press for this.