No one is being held to account for the deaths
Families of patients who fell victim to the hospital infections scandal have called for health chiefs to be held accountable. Kimberley Darroch’s daughter Milly Main,10, was at Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Children, in remission from leukaemia when her catheter became infected.
An official probe concluded she had “probably” died after catching a water-linked infection in 2017.
Looking at the latest papers from the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, which outline how the water was contaminated in construction, Kimberley said: “Clearly from this report the hospital was doomed to fail from the beginning if it was being contaminated by dust and particles from the demolition of the old Southern General. “I can’t believe we are almost six years on from the death of Milly and we are still uncovering failings at the QEUH despite being promised transparency by the health board and government.
“It is clear that the hospital should not have opened in 2015.
“I’m deeply disappointed by the actions of the health board who continue to bury their heads in the sand.
“I’m also really frustrated that even now nobody is being held accountable for what happened.” Louise Slorance, whose husband Andrew died while being treated for cancer in the QEUH, said the report made for grim reading.
The dad of five was admitted in 2020 and died after catching Covid weeks later but Louise said she was never told about an Aspergillus bacteria infection despite it being mentioned throughout her husband’s medical notes.
She said: “We know that any building work poses a risk of these sorts of infections and that’s why the basic systems are so important. It goes in layers. You’ve got the fact the hospital is built on a sewage site and the construction and deconstruction going on at the same time.
“They also didn’t plan on where the cancer wards were going to be until after construction began so they could never reach standards required.
“When you layer all that up, without a hell of a lot of money, it is not solveable.
Louise questioned why nobody has been held responsible for the hospital saga and questioned whether the site was safe now.
“People need to be held accountable for this,” she said.
“What I find deeply disturbing is the ongoing risk.
“They’re admitting patients day in and day out, and cases will keep appearing.
“It’s a national service. You have no choice but to go there if you need, for example, a stem cell transplant.
“Patients who are there now and who will be admitted tomorrow need to be kept safe.”