NEW DETAILS ON COURT FIGHT OVER HOSPITAL’S TROUBLES

GLASGOW’S health board has released more details about the £75million court fight against the firm responsible for building the city’s troubled super-hospital.

Legal proceedings have been raised against Multiplex for “losses and damages” incurred for a catalogue of failings at the £842m Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) since it opened in April 2015.

Official documents show NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is seeking compensation for problems with the water and ventilation systems, the glass panels on the exterior of the building, the heating system and the atrium roof as well as issues with internal fabric moisture ingress and the pneumatic transport system that links all the hospitals on the site.

The board is seeking damages for ongoing and future costs associated with repairs and improvements to the hospital site. It has already spent more than £1m upgrading the ventilation system at the children’s hospital.

A number of separate inquiries are ongoing into the hospital, specifically looking at infection control procedures after a number of patient deaths, including a public inquiry and a government review ordered by Health Secretary Jeane Freeman.

Prosecutors are also probing the death of a 10-year-old boy in December 2018 and a 73-year-old woman in January 2019 after they developed the Cryptococcus infection, linked to pigeon droppings.

The parents of another child, Milly Main, have demanded a Fatal Accident Inquiry after the 10-year-old died from an infection they believe is linked to the water supply while recovering from treatment for Leukaemia.

It has also been alleged a doctor-led probe at the QEUH found 26 cases of child cancer patients acquiring water infections in 2017.

The health board was put into level four “special measures” in November amid growing concern over its performance.

Board papers detail the progress that has been made to tackle the problems identified and for which compensation is being sought.

It has already paid out more than £1m to install a new ventilation system at the Royal Hospital for Children.

Wards 2A and B closed in September 2018 following a number of infection cases potentially linked to the water supply and children were transferred to Ward 6A in the QEUH.

The work was due to be completed in March but this has now been delayed until summer.

The papers also show that the board has appointed an external group to train staff in communications after it faced criticism that families were not kept informed about infections.

Multiplex is involved in a £700m project to expand Glasgow University with six major buildings.