A LITANY OF FAILURE AND SECRECY: THE TIMELINE
JULY 2015:
THE £842 million Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) opens, offering 1,677 beds across the main hospital and adjoining Royal Hospital for Children. Originally known as the South Glasgow University Hospital, politicians brand a renaming process a ‘ridiculous waste’ after £100,000 was spent on a royal opening, plaques, catering and signage.
OCTOBER 2015:
CONCERNS are raised about the number of buses travelling to and from the hospital, which prompts the council to install equipment to assess the levels of harmful nitrogen dioxide.
FEBRUARY 2016:
SURGERiES cancelled after a plumbing leak leads to sewage entering a brain surgery unit.
JANUARY 2017:
BLOOD and faeces are found on patient trolleys and mattresses during an inspection, sparking concerns over cleanliness.
JULY 2017:
THREE window panes fall out of the building, forcing NHS chiefs to install safety nets.
APRIL 2017:
NHS director Dr Jennifer Armstrong apologises for ‘unacceptable’ delays after consistent failures in seeing accident and emergency patients within four hours – a target set by the Scottish Government.
AUGUST 2017:
Milly Main, ten, in remission from cancer, dies in the QEUH after contracting an infection. That same month, cladding is removed from the building after investigations reveal it was similar to that used at Grenfell tower. This costs the taxpayer £6 million.
AUGUST 2017:
AS revealed today, a three-year-old boy dies in the QEUH. Police begin an investigation which is still under way.
2017
DOCTORS find up to 26 cases of infections linked to the water supply in children in QEUH cancer wards, according to a whistleblower.
JANUARY – SEPTEMBER 2018:
A TOTAL of 23 children contract bloodstream infections in QEUH cancer wards, an official report finds. Then, 22 child cancer patients are moved from two wards in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children due to problems with the water supply.
DECEMBER 2018:
A BOY of ten dies in the QEUH after contracting an infection linked to pigeon droppings. The cryptococcus fungus was found to be a contributing factor to his death.
JANUARY 2019:
A WOMAN of 73 dies after contracting an infection linked to pigeon droppings, though it was not the direct cause of her death.
JANUARY 2019:
PROSECUTORS investigate the death of Mito Kaur, 63, who was one of two patients affected by a fungal infection.
SEPTEMBER 2019:
A PUBLIC inquiry is announced. Jeane Freeman is told about the death in 2017 of a cancer patient linked to water contamination.
NOVEMBER 2019:
A WHISTLEBLOWER goes public to claim a ten-year-old girl’s death was linked to contamination. Ms Freeman insists that she did not go public with news of the child’s death to protect patient confidentiality. Glasgow labour MSP Anas Sarwar alleges a ‘cover-up’ – and brands the health board an ‘utter disgrace’ and ‘not fit for purpose’.