A 20-year-old student died from sepsis after contracting an infection due to poor hand hygiene at a major hospital, a coroner has concluded. Joshua Abbott-Littler, from Wigan, was being treated for a rare form of leukaemia at The Christie in Manchester when he died in June 2025.
An inquest at Manchester Coroner's Court heard that Joshua had been diagnosed with treatment-induced acute myeloid leukaemia on June 8, 2025, after previously being treated for Hodgkin lymphoma. He was readmitted to The Christie but died in the early hours of June 26.
Coroner Andrew Bridgman ruled that Joshua's death was caused by multiple organ failure due to sepsis following a bacterial infection. The infection was contracted through cross-contamination from another patient on the ward, with a Patient Safety Incident Investigation report confirming the strain of bacteria was identical.
The report found that poor adherence to hand hygiene and aseptic non-touch technique was 'highly likely' to have caused the infection entering Joshua's bloodstream via a central catheter. The Christie NHS Foundation Trust acknowledged lapses in infection control.
Coroner Bridgman described the case as 'devastating' and said Joshua's death was 'overtaken by the inadequate adherence to antiseptic techniques'. A trust spokesperson offered sincere condolences to the family.
