STV NewsThe parents of children who suffered infections while being treated at Scotland’s largest hospital say the health board’s apology “means nothing”.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGCC) apologised to the patients and families affected after accepting there was probably a “causal connection” between infections suffered by cancer patients and the hospital environment, in particular, the water system.
They maintain that the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) is now safe.
Admissions were also made that the complex opened “too early” and “was not ready” due to pressure to open on time and on budget.
Charmaine Lacock is among the parents who have accused the health board of covering up known issues with the building.
Her daughter Paige was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2018 when she was four years old.
During a two-year period while undergoing treatment, Paige contracted a Staphylococcus aureus infection when an inpatient, a Staphylococcus warneri infection when an out-patient, and a Pseudomonas infection shortly after she received a blood transfusion.
She then developed a candida infection when being treated as an in-patient at the Royal Hospital for Children.
‘We should have fought cancer, not a hospital’
“We should have fought cancer, not a hospital and a health board and an environment”, Charmaine told STV News.
“Our kids were at risk of dying from cancer. I remember the very first conversation where they said to us, ‘your child will probably die from infection rather than cancer, and that’s how critical you should look at infection control in the house,’ and for them to say that to us, while putting our kids in a sick hospital.
“I’m very angry. Very, very upset, very sad. It took us so long to get to this point. We’ve been lied to the whole way. We feel they have covered things up.
“They have concealed the truth from us. I feel heartbroken that we had to go through cancer treatment, fighting not just cancer, but infection, the hospitals and health boards and everything.
STV News“It takes such a toll on us as a family. This isn’t a victory.
“The apology means nothing because as soon as we got it, they kind of took it away again. I don’t trust anything coming out of the NHS at the moment.
“We still do not have answers. It is my personal opinion that the hospital knew at the time that there were problems, but they had to buy time.
“The hospital knew that it was an unsafe environment, but they had to play the long game, so that they have time to fix it, which they claim to have done.”
Inquiry
The inquiry was launched following a series of infection-related deaths, including that of ten-year-old Milly Main, who died in 2017 while being treated for leukaemia at the Royal Hospital for Children.
Milly was diagnosed with leukaemia aged five, but was in remission when she picked up an infection at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and died on August 17.
Concerns over patient deaths and infections have centred on the £840m hospital’s water and ventilation systems.
While NHSGGC officials had previously denied that bacteria in the water were to blame, lawyers have confirmed the board now accepts that infections affecting some child cancer patients were probably caused by the water system.
The health board said it was “more likely than not” that a material proportion of additional bloodstream infections among paediatric haemato-oncology patients between 2016 and 2018 were connected to the state of the hospital’s water supply.
‘We found ourselves in a disaster’
Karen Stirrat’s son Caleb was diagnosed with a rare atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumour in 2019 when he was just three years old.
She told the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry that there were issues with the water supply throughout his time at the QEUH and that she learned he had been prescribed preventive antibiotics in March 2019 due to the water supply.
Speaking to STV News, Karen said: “I don’t feel that the apology is actually worth anything whatsoever.
“If they were remorseful, they would be fully transparent, and I feel they have not been right up till now.
“Each individual responsible on that board should be named, and they should be taking action against them.
“Yes, they have a new board on now, and yes, they can say that it’s changed days, but those people on that previous board are still either retired or moved on to new jobs. They should be held accountable.
“We took our child to a hospital to be treated. You expect that you’re in a safe place and your child is going to be well looked after.
“But instead of that, we found ourselves in sheer and utter disaster. Instead of looking after our child, we’re trying to find out how a hospital was built. If they had just held their hands up at the beginning, a lot of this could have been avoided.
“When we should have been dealing with our sick child, we were dealing with all this chaos. We were fighting for our child, but we were also doing it for everyone else’s child too.
“We can never change the cards that we were dealt, the time it took away from us and our children. You can never change the damage that they’ve done. It’s irreversible.”
Charmaine added: “Every parent walked away with PTSD from that ward.
“We want a safer hospital, we want them to fix the problems in the hospital and then come out and prove to the public that the hospital is safe for immune-compromised kids. If they can’t do that, move the children to a different location.”
A spokesperson for 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.”
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