SHATTERED: Probe after glass panel plunges TEN floors at super- hospital
HEALTH chiefs are investigating what caused a heavy glass panel to plunge 10 floors to the ground at Glasgow’s £ 840 million super hospital.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said it was ‘ fortunate’ that no one was injured during the incident, which happened early yesterday morning at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
A spokesman for the board said it was “not, at this time, clear why this happened,” but said investigations are under way.
In June this year, cracking began to appear on a window, which saw staff rush to cordon off an area.
The following month, union bosses called on health chiefs to keep them informed about an investigation into why windows from the hospital were failing.
Matt McLaughlin, of Unison Scotland, said: “This seems to be a persistent problem that the NHS is unable to get to grips with.
“The health board need to come clean on this immediately and tell the public why it is happening and what they plan to do to fix it.
“Let’s hope they do before someone is badly injured.”
The hospital – which is one of the largest acute hospitals in the UK and home to major specialist services – has been plagued by teething problems with the fabric of the building, since it opened in 2015.
In January last year, we reported how the majority of blinds in the single rooms of Glasgow’s new £ 842million hospital were broken less than two years after the hospital opened.
The health board admitted that most were having to be replaced due to a fault with the wand mechanism.
The previous year, nurses told how they were forced to drape aprons over doors to give patients privacy because they couldn’t shut the faulty blinds.
Then, just last month, an Evening Times reader told of her anger after she was stuck in a hot lift in the building for over an hour with her sick mother.
A spokesman for NHSGGC said: “An external decorative external panel this morning fell from the 10th floor of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital building.
“Fortunately, no- one was hurt and the area was immediately secured. Facilities staff are on site to assess and repair the damage.”.