Infections spiked at hospital at time of ten-year-old cancer patient Milly’s death
● Report finds upper warning limit breached
There was a spike in infections at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Glasgow around the time of a ten-year-old girl’s death, according to a report.
The document, published by Health Protection Scotland (HPS), was produced following ten-year-old Milly Main’s death after she contracted an infection as she received leukaemia treatment at the site, which is shared with the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
After undergoing a successful stem cell transplant in July 2017, Milly had been making a recovery but the following month her Hickman line, a catheter used to administer drugs, became infected.
Milly then went into toxic shock at the hospital and died some days later.
Her mother, Kimberly Darroch, has since said she was “let down and lied to” by health officials over her daughter’s death.
The HPS report found there was an upward shift above the infections rate average from March to December 2017, with the upper warning limit breached in August 2017, the month of Milly’s death.
It was also breached in March and May 2018, and in September this year.
Different sources of data on positive blood samples among children being treated for cancer in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde over a period of years were compared within the report, with statistical analysis highlighting the months in which rates of positive blood samples were higher than would be expected.
Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is one form of gramnegative bacteria that is found in various water environments and was listed on Milly’s death certificate in August 2017.
It causes problems mainly in people who have a weakened immune system.
The report follows a whistleblower’s claim to have identified
Labour MSP ten new cases at the site, suggesting young people could have been falling victim to bugs since 2016.
Two wards at the children’s hospital were closed more than a year ago for work to be carried out after health concerns.
Scottish Labour MSP Anas Sarwar, who was first contacted by the whistleblower, said: “This HPS report confirms the information exposed by a brave whistleblower.
“Without them, this scandal may never have come to light.
“There are now clearly a number of serious questions about the above-average infection rates in 2017 and the upper warning limit being breached around the time Milly tragically died.”
Milly’s mother said: “I want to thank the whistleblower for coming forward.
“As a result of their action, we now have more information about infections at the hospital that we were never told about as a family at the time.”
This HPS report confirms the information exposed by a brave whistleblower
ANAS SARWAR