The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Sturgeon pressed over young patient’s death
First minister faced hard questions following untimely passing of child from infection at flagship hospital
Nicola Sturgeon has been pressed on whether the “tragic” death of a child at Scotland’s flagship hospital was linked to the NHS’s £900 million repairs and maintenance backlog.
It emerged this week the Crypotococcus infection, which is linked to pigeon droppings, contributed to the death of a child at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
The young patient was one of two who died after contracting the infection there – although the other death was not linked to the bug.
Ms Sturgeon said the situation was “a very serious incident that must be and is being treated seriously”.
Scottish Conservative interim leader Jackson Carlaw said the “alarming” situation at the flagship hospital – which was built at a cost of £842 million – “raised wider questions about the government’s record on the NHS, because there is a £900 million maintenance backlog on NHS buildings, including hospitals in Scotland”.
At First Minister’s Questions, he said: “Is it any wonder then that we do see problems emerging, not just at the Queen Elizabeth but at other hospitals across Scotland?”
The Tory stressed that while tens of thousands of Scots had been successfully treated at the hospital, the “tragic events” had “shaken confidence”.
He also noted public spending watchdogs at Audit Scotland had reported there were currently “no coherent proposals to bring our NHS estate up to standard”.
Ms Sturgeon said: “At any given time there will be maintenance requirements in the health service estate.
“The Scottish Government works closely with health boards through our capital allocations to health boards to make sure we’re providing, as far as we can within the resources available to us, capital provision to do that.”
She added: “I’m not going to go into party political exchanges on this issue, it is too serious for that.”
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard also challenged her on the outbreak, saying: “The awful news that two patients, including a child, died after contracting an infection at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow has shocked us all.
“Our sympathies, our thoughts, are with the families who have lost loved ones.”
He also listed a number of incidents at the hospital since it opened four years ago, including a premature baby dying from an infection and 22 children becoming infected from bacteria in the water supply.
He challenged Ms Sturgeon over whether this was “good enough”.
The first minister responded: “The evidence suggests there is no general problem with infection control.”
She added: “Nobody thinks it is good enough for any patient to get an infection in hospital.
“Infections do happen in hospitals. There is probably not a hospital anywhere that hasn’t had some kind of infection outbreak and the implications for very ill patients can be severe.
“That is why it is so important that everything possible is done to reduce infection and everything possible will be done in this case to ensure there is no repetition.”
Last night a Scottish Government spokesperson added: “We refute the claim that any hospital in Scotland is not cleaned as thoroughly and efficiently as any other.”
I’m not going to go into party political exchanges on this issue, it is too serious for that. FIRST MINISTER NICOLA STURGEON