In a shocking reversal, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has finally admitted that the water system and overall hospital environment at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) were likely responsible for causing serious infections in vulnerable patients. This comes after years of denials and stonewalling by the health board, leaving parents feeling “lied to, demeaned and smeared”.
The public inquiry into the QEUH scandal has heard harrowing accounts from parents like Karen Stirrat and Charmaine Lacock, whose children were exposed to infections while being treated for cancer and other conditions at the flagship “super hospital”. Dozens of young patients became even sicker, and some tragically died, due to these hospital-acquired infections.
In a stunning admission in its closing submission to the inquiry, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde now acknowledges that the hospital opened in 2015 before it was ready, with “pressure” to deliver the £840 million project on time. The board also concedes that maintenance in the early years was insufficient, and that infection control doctors who tried to raise the alarm were badly treated.
These belated admissions directly contradict positions the health board had taken during the six-year inquiry, leaving parents frustrated and furious that it has taken so long for the truth to come to light. “For them to now backtrack… it’s too little, too late,” said Karen Stirrat.
Charmaine Lacock’s daughter Paige was just three years old when she picked up a “life-threatening” infection during her cancer treatment in 2019. Charmaine says she felt like her child had already been placed in a casket. “A hospital is supposed to be your safe place where you go to ask for help,” she lamented.
The parents also live with “survivor’s guilt” that their children are alive when others, whose families they have met through years of campaigning, have died. Karen Stirrat’s son Caleb had to be prescribed strong antibiotics as a precaution, with doctors forbidden from telling parents about the infection risks.
The QEUH, one of Europe’s largest hospital complexes, had initially seemed to offer a new standard of care and comfort. But within weeks of opening, there were reports of difficulties during patient transfers and long waits for admission. It later emerged that 200 contractors were still on site when it opened, rushing to complete the project on time.
The final report from the public inquiry chairman Lord Brodie is expected later this year. But the political fallout has already begun, with opposition leaders demanding to know if there was any pressure from the Scottish government to open the hospital before the 2015 general election.
For parents like Karen and Charmaine, the focus is less on the politics and more on finally getting answers to the questions they have been asking for years. They still have their children, but the trauma will haunt them forever. “It has taken over our lives,” said Charmaine. “This will haunt us forever.”