Blame lies with leadership, not the clinicians
SINCE the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus opened its doors, it has been beset by problems.
It ran out of water days after admitting its first patients in April 2015.
In the same month the accident and emergency department turned into a “war zone” as trolleys lined up in corridors and some patients were forced to sit on the floor to await treatment in the £842million facility.
Before the year was out, the hospital was running out of bed linen at night and later there were incidences of window panes falling out. Hospital inspections found blood and faeces on trolleys and mattresses.
The problems got more serious over the years and, by 2018, we were telling how there was contamination in the water supply in the children’s hospital.
And now we are all familiar about the avoidable deaths within the QEUH of patients who became infected with bacteria and mould.
Now 23 clinicians have written to the First Minister complaining about their “disappointment and frustration” about the way the hospital has been portrayed in the Press and by politicians.
The Daily Record of course stands by its coverage. We are proud to declare that we are ALWAYS on the side of patients AND hardworking NHS staff.
Most of the stories we have printed about the QEUH have come from hard-pressed NHS clnicians who have been driven to despair by management failures.
The Daily Record is very proud of the work we have done in highlighting the problems and while we have been highly critical of the management’s lack of transparency, we have never blamed the hardworking clinicians.
We know these highly skilled healthcare workers are doing their utmost to help patients. They are certainly not to blame for the controversies which have beset the hospital. Their integrity is without question.
However, the health board has been less than transparent.
It was only after the Daily Record found out about water contamination on children’s cancer wards that the health board issued a press release.
When two patients died after contracting cryptococcus – a fungus related to pigeon droppings – it was at least three weeks before the hospital came clean about the deaths.
Just ask Milly Main’s mum. The 10-year-old girl died in 2017 but it was two years later before her family learned she had died from an infection picked up in the hospital.
Only by exposing the problems will action be taken by the management at the QEUH to avoid more unnecessary deaths.
Transparency, openness and honesty are the best ways to deal with these problems, not brushing them under the carpet – as management have attempted to do so often.