Relatives reacted angrily after a decision not to prosecute an NHS trust over 90 deaths from C Diff.

Relatives reacted angrily yesterday following a decision not to prosecute an NHS trust over failures which led to 90 deaths from the Clostridium Difficile bug.

Kent Police and the Health and Safety Executive said their inquiries failed to find sufficient evidence to bring charges of corporate manslaughter or gross negligent manslaughter against Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust following a damning report by the Healthcare Commission last October.

The commission found that poor staffing, dirty wards and too much focus on debts and government targets all contributed to two serious outbreaks of C Diff in 2005 and early 2006.

Its inquiries revealed that 345 patients died while infected with C Diff, of which 90 definitely or probably died as a direct result of contracting the bug.

However, Kent Police and the HSE put the trust and its former chief executive, Rose Gibb, in the clear when they said their review of the commission's report did not support a prosecution.

Former Bucks Fizz singer Cheryl Baker, whose 77-year-old mother-in-law, Doreen Ford, died from C Diff at Maidstone Hospital, condemned the decision not to prosecute. Ms Baker described her mother-in-law's death as "legalised killing".

She said: "Those patients didn't die by chance. They died because they contracted C Diff at the trust because of poor hygiene and care, so they are to blame, without a shadow of a doubt."

The decision not to prosecute came on the same day Labour accused Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon of missing her deadline on publishing a review into a fatal hospital bug outbreak in Scotland.

The Scottish Government confirmed yesterday that the independent review into the C Diff outbreak at Vale of Leven hospital in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire, is expected to be published by the end of next week.

Ms Sturgeon had told parliament that she wanted the review made public by the end of July. The outbreak affected 55 people and was the primary cause of death in nine patients - and a contributory cause in another nine.

The Scottish Government rejected Labour claims that the families have been told in writing that Ms Sturgeon will not meet them ahead of publication. A spokeswoman said she has made it clear that she will do this.

The Scottish Government came under further pressure earlier this month to publish a detailed breakdown hospital-acquired infe tions across the country as new figures showed that 24 people died in a single year from C Diff in the Ayrshire and Arran health board area.