Saline bags probe at Cumberland Infirmary: Woman arrest

A woman has been arrested as part of an investigation into saline bags being tampered with at a hospital.

The items were discovered at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle in January.

A member of staff from Wigton has been held on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice and appearing to contaminate goods.

North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust said there were no indications patients had been adversely affected.

It added security measures were stepped up at the hospital following the discovery of a "small number" of suspicious bags.

Saline bags contain solutions of sterile water and small amounts of salt.

They are used for a wide variety of purposes in hospitals, such as supplying fluids to rehydrate patients unable to keep water down.

Sometimes medicines are injected into the bags so they can be fed directly into a patient's bloodstream.