NHS SUE SCANDAL HOSPITAL BUILDER
£842m campus plagued by problems
SCOTLAND’S largest health board has begun legal action against a contractor involved in building the country’s showpiece hospital.
Brookfield Multiplex was responsible for the design and construction of Glasgow’s £842million Queen Elizabeth University Hospital complex.
Now, lawyers for Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board have been instructed to raise court proceedings against Brookfield.
The QEUH campus has been beset by problems since it opened in May 2015.
An inquiry into its design, fabric and construction has been announced by Health Secretary Jeane Freeman.
The inquiry is also expected to cover the new children’s hospital in Edinburgh, which also involved Brookfield Multiplex. Its opening has been delayed by problems.
Glasgow’s “super-hospital” has been at the centre of a number of scandals.
Last month, we revealed allegations that a doctor-led probe at the QEUH found 26 cases of child cancer patients acquiring water infections in 2017.
Two kids who died that year – 10-year-old Milly Main and Mason Djemat, three – were treated on a ward affected by water contamination.
In January, it emerged that two patients had died after contracting a fungal infection linked to pigeon droppings. In May 2017, a glass panel crashed to the ground from an upper floor. There were two more similar incidents that year.
And in July 2017, we revealed that the hospital was built with the same insulating material as that used in Grenfell Tower.
Last month, the board was placed in “special measures”.
Jane Grant, chief executive at NHS Glasgow and Greater Clyde, confirmed the legal action and insisted that patients, families and staff deserve the QEUH “to be a safe and welcoming environment where the highest standard of person-centred care will be delivered”.
But she added: “A number of issues have arisen around the operational effectiveness of the hospital which have impacted on the seamless delivery of safe and effective healthcare.
“I am sorry for the distress this has caused.”