People died, children died - we need answers – Charmaine Lacock
When Charmaine Lacock was given the devastating news two years ago that daughter Paige had leukaemia, she thought it was the end of the world.
Paige is now four, and an inspiration to children who are suffering from cancer and her 50,000 TikTok followers who enjoy her messages of hope.
Charmaine, 42, from Knightswood, Glasgow, said: “Paige really is a bright little star, and we are so grateful for the wonderful treatment from the medical teams who saved her.”
But the mum of four knows it could have been so different for Paige who was one of the children infected by the water supply at the ill-fated £842 million Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Instead of counting down until December to Paige’s last chemotherapy treatment, Charmaine knows how lucky her little girl has been to survive. She said: “To be told your child has cancer is terrifying. To then discover the hospital supposed to be saving her life is contributing to making her sick, is something that should never have happened.”
The parents are backing the calls for a Patients’ Commissioner because they say families deserve to get answers now.
Charmaine said: “It’s correct that the government have called for an inquiry into what happened at the QEH. But that will take years. We need answers now. If we had a Patients’ Commissioner, we could expect to get answers to the simple questions so we could use the hospital without having to worry if it’s safe.
“We don’t blame the medical teams for what happened, and we know whistleblowers tried their best to raise worries about infection control with management who didn’t listen. That’s the kind of culture that costs lives. People died. Children died. It’s infuriating management at the QEH continue smiling and telling everyone that it’s all okay, business as usual. As far as we’re concerned, it’s not okay and it will never be okay.”