Sean Phillips, 31, died from toxic shock syndrome after a knee operation at Southampton General Hospital.

Despite his high temperature, high pulse rate and low blood pressure, doctors left in charge of Mr Phillips failed to diagnose the condition or seek help after making eight assessments over two days in June 2000.

Mr Justice Cresswell, sitting at Winchester Crown Court yesterday, described the breach as an “extremely serious offence” that had resulted in a tragic and unnecessary death.

He said that medical care was a “solemn duty” that the doctors, and the hospital, had failed to perform.

“Common sense dictates that a reasonable standard of care must pertain seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year,” he said. “A fine, healthy and much loved person has died unnecessarily. Anyone listening to this matter can have nothing but the deepest sympathy for the family and friends of Sean Phillips.”

Southampton University Hospitals Trust was also ordered to pay £10,000 in costs.

Amit Misra and Rajeev Srivastava, two senior house officers, were convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence at Winchester Crown Court in 2003. Both were sentenced to eighteen months in prison, suspended for two years. In a rare move, the Crown Prosecution Service then charged the trust.

During the hearing this week the court was told that Mr Phillips was admitted to Southampton General Hospital to repair torn knee ligaments. The operation went well and he was expected to leave the next day but an infection set in and toxins built up in his body. Despite the clear indications of deteriorating health, Misra and Srivastava failed to diagnose the condition or seek help and advice from senior doctors even though they visited Mr Phillips eight times over two days.

The court was also told that in the days before Mr Phillips died there had been concerns about the competence of senior house officers in the trauma and orthopaedic department where Mr Phillips was being treated. On the day that he died a senior nurse had sent a report about the concerns, involving Misra in particular, to a consultant.

Other senior doctors admitted that they had little direct contact with senior house officers and left it to senior registrars and nurses to deal with problems.

Hywel Jenkins, for the prosecution, said that if the hospital had organised daily visits by a registrar the chances of Mr Phillips’s condition being missed would have been lessened.

Richard Lissack, QC, said that the trust was not responsible for the death and that it had quickly set up an automated early-warning system to monitor patients’ vital signs and trigger an automatic response. There had been a change in the training of senior house officers and improvements in communication, including thorough ward rounds or advice seven days a week by senior doctors.

Mark Hackett, the chief executive of the trust, which overspent by £6 million last year, said that it had not yet decided whether to appeal.

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