Builders of £850m scandal-hit hospital sued for extra £18m

THE construction firm that built a scandal-hit flagship hospital is facing a new £18million NHS compensation bill.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has lodged a fresh claim against Multiplex, which oversaw the project to build the £850million Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus.

The health board is already suing the firm for £73million, claiming that a string of design flaws compromised ‘safe and effective health care’ for patients at the QEUH and Royal Hospital for Children (RHC).

Official documents show it is now seeking an additional £18.2million for problems with the chilled water system, which cools the larger buildings.

The health board has been carrying out remedial works and the cost is being met by the Scottish Government ahead of the outcome of the legal case.

An investigation concluded that a water-linked infection was at least in part responsible for the death of RHC patient Milly Main, ten, in 2017. The Crown Office is investigating her death and those of two other children, as well as a 73-year-old woman.

The board is suing Multiplex Construction Europe Ltd, performance guarantor BPY Holdings, project supervisors Capita

Property and Infrastructure Ltd and lead consultant Currie and Brown UK. The firms have challenged the original action – lodged on January 22, 2020 – saying it may be ‘time barred’.

The health board is also negotiating a settlement with Multiplex to replace wall linings in the hospital atrium.

Regarding the cooling system claim, a spokesman for the board said: ‘The system has suffered leaks resulting in the need for repairs and replacements and a Court of Session summons was signeted on April 29, 2021. This summons describes a claim for £18.2million and is in addition to the original court action.’

In response to the original legal claim, Multiplex said it was ‘extremely disappointed’.

A father was ‘terrified’ to take his daughter back to the hospital where she caught a life-threatening infection, the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry has heard.

Molly, 19, fell ill while being treated for cancer in ward 6A of QEUH in early 2018. Asked how he felt about her returning in September 2019, Professor John Cuddihy said: ‘I was just terrified she might not come back.’

The inquiry continues.