‘We are going nowhere,’ say families affected by hospital-linked infections

Families of patients treated at a hospital at the centre of infection concerns have said “we are going nowhere”, as they claimed flaws in the building’s environment “killed and poisoned our loved ones”.

In a statement read out on their behalf on Thursday, the families said they had been “demeaned and smeared” by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC), which they said must now face a “reckoning”.

The inquiry has been examining the design and construction of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow and the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC), which are on the same campus.

It was launched in the wake of deaths linked to infections, including that of 10-year-old Milly Main in 2017.

In written closing submissions, the health board accepted there was probably a “causal connection” between infections suffered by patients and the hospital environment, in particular the water system.

It also said pressure was applied to open the hospital on time and on budget, but it is now clear it opened “too early” and it “was not ready”.

NHSGGC has offered a “sincere and unreserved apology” to the patients and families affected, and said the QEUH and RHC are safe today.

Lawyer Stephanie Spencer, from Thompsons Solicitors Scotland, which represents the vast majority of those affected, read out a statement on their behalf on Thursday.

It said: “Our children, our husbands and wives, our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers, we came to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in desperate need of help.

“We trusted the hospital and the health board.

“Instead, we were left at the mercy of a hospital with a defective ventilation system and a defective water system.

“We were at the mercy of what we now know to be a deceitful and dishonest health board.

“We have been devastated. Some of our loved ones have died. Some are left with very serious lifelong consequences.

“Our trauma is enormous. The water and ventilation system which killed and poisoned our loved ones continues to be unsafe.

“We believe these deadly failings must now lead to a full and immediate upgrade of the entire hospital.”

The statement also directed remarks at NHSGGC, accusing the health board of “gross misconduct, incompetence and dishonesty”, which it said had “led to the deaths and serious illnesses of our loved ones”.

It continued: “When we raised concerns, you ignored us. When we protested, you demeaned and smeared us.

“Your army of legal advisers and press spin doctors worked over years to undermine us, despite your best efforts, here we are today, and you must face a reckoning.”

The statement also called for those responsible to be dismissed, and stripped of all pensions relating to their work at the health board.

The statement concluded: “Our politicians must act now and act decisively.

“Look at the pictures of our loved ones. Will the fates they have suffered count for nothing?

“Do the people of Scotland not deserve better than lying health board officials?

“We are going nowhere. Now is the time to act.”

In his closing submissions to the inquiry Steve Love KC, who represents many of the affected families, said: “This inquiry has been ongoing for four years, at significant expense to the Scottish public purse.

“And only now, in its final throes, have GGC conceded many significant and impactful failings on their part.”

He said patients had felt “unheard” in the process and he insisted that the health board’s approach had eroded trust, adding that the patients were “astonished and frankly angered” to hear that the hospital was not ready when it opened in 2015.

In its written closing submissions, NHSGGC said it has been “broadly acknowledged that there is no definite link between infections and the water system”.

However it said it accepts it is “more likely than not that a material proportion of the additional environmentally relevant blood stream infections in the paediatric haemato-oncology population between 2016 and 2018 had a connection to the state of the hospital water system”.

NHSGGC said: “We offer our sincere and unreserved apology to the patients and families affected.

“We want to reassure patients and families that the QEUH and RHC are safe today. Ensuring the safe care of our patients is our key priority at all times.

“Comprehensive steps have been taken to address past physical defects in the building and a significant programme of maintenance and monitoring is in place. Our staff are committed to providing safe, high-quality care.

“It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to comment further at this time while the inquiry is ongoing.”

Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “The Government brought forward the public inquiry so that families – some of whom I have met, and to whom I pay tribute for their work and their diligence following the trauma that they have undoubtedly experienced – can get answers to the questions that they are posing.

“It is because we have instigated a public inquiry that, I believe, we are getting to the truth.

“We have provided all relevant evidence to the inquiry, relating to the whole of its terms of reference.

“That is still being considered by the inquiry and so it is important that we allow it the space to consider its final conclusions.

“I will not comment further until the inquiry publishes its findings.”