Agenda item

This report provides a further response to the issues relating to Splashes Leisure Pool which were raised as a Member’s Item by Councillor Stamp.

Discussion:

The Committee received a report setting out a further response to issues relating to Splashes Leisure Pool raised as a Member’s item by Councillor Stamp.

All other issues had been covered in a report considered by the Committee on 17 January 2017 and the current report set out a response to that element of the original Member’s item concerning the chlorine doses in the pool when the pool water had been dyed for an event on 28 October 2016. This element of the Member’s item had been delayed pending a report from Public Health England (PHE) following its investigation.

The Committee noted that arising from its investigation, PHE had established that two members of staff and one survey respondent had reported being unwell but had not entered the pool. The PHE had therefore concluded that it was not possible to identify how or where norovirus had been introduced or spread during the affected period.

The PHE had suggested that a review of scientific evidence may be needed to determine how much chlorine was necessary to prevent the spread of norovirus in water. PHE would therefore take this up with the Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group (PWTAG) as the body responsible for publishing national guidance on pool water safety.

The Head of Sport, Leisure, Tourism and Heritage confirmed that the service had taken on board lessons learnt from the incident and, in the light of the comment from PHE that chlorine levels of 1ppm or above might be necessary to prevent transmission of norovirus in water, as a precaution, the Council would no longer use dye in its pools.

The Head of Sport, Leisure, Tourism and Heritage confirmed that the service had taken on board lessons learnt from the incident and, in the light of the comment from PHE that chlorine levels of 1ppm or above might be necessary to prevent transmission of norovirus in water, as a precaution, the Council would no longer use dye in its pools.

A Member commented that it was unfortunate that a copy of the PHE report had not been appended to the agenda and he therefore circulated a copy of the PHE report to each Member of the Committee. He expressed concern that he considered the Council report to be misleading, as the PHE report had demonstrated that the Council could not evidence that it had followed some of its normal operating procedures and guidelines of the Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group. In particular, he drew attention that no recording of chlorine levels had taken place after 14:00 hrs on Friday 28 October 2016.

In response, the Head of Sport, Leisure, Tourism and Heritage advised that following his internal investigation, he was satisfied that the chlorine levels had been tested after 14.00 hrs, but acknowledged that they had not been recorded. This was unfortunate, and a lesson learnt that all testing of chlorine levels must be recorded. In response to a question, he confirmed that chlorine levels in pool water could fluctuate in either direction as a result of a number of factors.

The Committee discussed the PHE investigation report and noted the recommendations contained within it. The Committee also acknowledged that PHE had recognised that the prompt and robust actions undertaken by Leisure Management and the Council’s Environmental Team in response to the outbreak had mitigated further risk to users of the facility.

Decision:

a)            The Committee noted the report and recommended that the Director of Regeneration, Culture, Environment and Transformation take on board the following recommendations from Public Health England:

1.    Medway Council is advised to investigate the lessons to be learnt in terms of pool management procedures and to implement appropriate remedial actions.

2.    Medway Council is advised to consider the need for additional training on the need to maintain legible, contemporaneous records of pool water safety including chlorine levels and actions undertaken.

3.    Medway Council is advised to consider the need for reviewing business continuity plans and any potential impact on pool water safety/monitoring procedures in the event of service disruption due to ICT failure or similar events.

4.    Medway Council is advised to consider measures to improve the use of showers before and after use of the pool by customers.

5.    Strict compliance with Medway Council’s swimming pool Normal Operating Procedure should minimise the risk of further outbreaks occurring in the future. Enhanced vigilance and oversight should be considered when deviating from normal pool procedures e.g. when reducing chlorine levels or when the auto-doser is switched off.

6.    Medway Council is advised to share the summary of this outbreak with the manufacturer of the colouring dye and PWTAG to inform their recommendations for the future

7.    It be noted that PHE intends to publish the findings of this outbreak in a peer-reviewed journal to inform future research and practice recommendations in maintaining pool water safety.

b)            Whilst it be noted that Public Health England also recommended that the Council review the risk assessment for dyeing pool water, a decision has already been taken that the Council will no longer use dye in its pools.