Patients had raised infection concerns at hospital

PATIENTS recovering from bone marrow transplants raised concerns about infection control procedures at Glasgow’s new hospital before a treatment unit was closed due to air quality fears.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) revealed on Tuesday it has relocated 18 patients from the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital after routine tests identified a “higher particle count than is desirable”.

The board said the transfer was temporary while the problem was being resolved.

Concerns were also raised about infection control procedures before the unit was transferred. One patient, recovering from a transplant, expressed concern at being kept in a general waiting area for more than an hour with “non-transplant” patients before attending the unit.

The patient said it was standard practice at the Beatson for patients who reported being unwell with coughs, colds or other infections to be seated separately to minimise the risk of cross-infection.

The patient said: “I feel more could have been done at the clinic area for bone marrow transplant patients to keep us safe while we recover from highly risky treatment.

“Practices in place at the Beatson did not seem to have transferred to the new hospital.”

The comments were posted on a patient information site.

A spokeswoman f or NHSGGC said: “Our haemato-oncology clinicians would never invite a patient to an outpatient appointment which would involve them coming into contact with a range of individuals in the community en route to the hospital and in the hospital itself without being satisfied that the patient’s level of immunity was appropriate.”