Police are now investigating the deaths of six patients who contracted infections at Glasgow’s super-hospital. Cops are probing how three adults and three patients died at the scandal-hit Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QUEH).
Health bosses at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde admitted this month a probable link between dirty water and the deaths of child cancer patients. The admission, made to a public inquiry into the QEUH, was issued after years of denial.
One of the children was 10 year old cancer patient Milly Main, who died in 2017 after being infected with a bacteria linked to the water system. The Record exclusively revealed in 2019 she was one of the victims after her mum Kimberly Darroch came forward.
Police had been investigating five deaths at the hospital and the Mail on Sunday has reported a sixth is now being examined. Cops are looking at the death of Tony Dynes, a 65-year-old dad from East Kilbride, who died in 2021 after contracting two infections while being treated for lymphoma.
The other deaths being probed are Milly Main, 73 year old Gail Armstrong, two unnamed children and Scots civil servant Andrew Slorance. The official, from Edinburgh, died in 2020 after contracting Covid while awaiting a bone marrow transplant. The father of five had also been infected by Aspergillus.
Meanwhile, a whistleblowing doctor who helped to expose the infection scandal has said she fears it remains unsafe. Dr Christine Peters, a consultant microbiologist who first raised concerns over a decade ago, branded NHSGGC a “malevolent organisation” and does not believe it has changed.
Asked whether she was satisfied the hospital was now safe, she told the Sunday Times, “No, I’m not”.
She said: “There is a gap in the evidence currently, which is that there is no validation for every area of the hospital available.”.
“There are big parts of the hospital that have not been covered in the discussion. There are treatment rooms, outpatient clinics, renal suites, day surgery suites, there are huge parts of radiology, there are huge parts of the hospital that have not come under specific scrutiny.
“That seems to be a very basic request, that ten years after the hospital was opened, what paperwork can you show us that demonstrates the actual state of play of every single part of the hospital? It’s clear from the evidence to the inquiry there is a gap, and that I think needs to be filled.”
First Minister John Swinney has said he believes the £1bn hospital is safe.
It comes after NHSGGC clarified that pressure to open the super hospital in 2015 came from “within”.
In a statement issued on Saturday evening, the organisation said the board’s “objective” would have been to deliver it on time and on budget.
It said the health board’s then-chief executive Robert Calderwood would have “sought updates” on the hospital’s progress.
The clarification refers to comments in the health board’s closing submissions to the public inquiry that “pressure” was applied to ensure the facility was opened on time in 2015.
The comment triggered speculation as to the source of the pressure, with the Scottish Government coming under fire.
A spokesman for the Crown Office said: “The procurator fiscal has received a report in connection with the death of a 65-year-old man on 21 May, 2021 in Glasgow.
“The investigation into the death is ongoing and the family will continue to be kept updated in relation to any significant developments.”
Original source: gb