Criminal probe underway into bird poo scandal at super hospital

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has summoned more than 20 staff at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for interview as part of their investigation into an earlier infection linked to the death of a 10-year-old boy.

The regulator said prosecution could be an outcome of their findings, should they uncover serious breaches of health and safety rules which contributed to the boy’s death.

Revealed: £400k bill for pest control at Glasgow super-hospital campus

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has instructed other health bodies to conduct a “fingertip search” of documents to ensure other new and recently built projects in Glasgow comply with all regulations and standards.

The Herald on Sunday has learned that a child with cancer has contracted a fresh bacterial infection linked to the water system at the QEUH, which is now being investigated by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC).

It is the latest in a series of healthcare-associated infections to hit the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and the adjacent Royal Hospital for Children since they opened in 2015.

In February 2016, months after the hospitals opened, a child with cancer developed a bloodstream infection from a water-born bacteria and another child became unwell from the same bacteria a year later.

Between January 29 and September 20, 2018, 21 children with cancer were struck down by infections from 12 separate types of fungi and bacteria.

NHSGGC announced in June 2018 it would be moving patients from wards 2A and 2B at the RHC due to the infections and they would be treated in the QEUH.

However, in December 2018, a 10-year-old boy with cancer, who was being treated in the QEUH, contracted an infection of Cryptococcus linked to pigeon droppings and later died.

READ MORE: Pigeon droppings and feathers in superhospital plant room which sparked public inquiry

Pensioner Mito Kaur also passed away after contracting another fungus, Mucor, having been admitted to hospital for treatment for pneumonia.

We previously revealed that the pest control bill for the QEUH campus had reached more than £400,000, with pests such as rats, ants and beetles among those eradicated or deterred from the site.

One source told The Herald on Sunday that tests are ongoing to determine if other children have been affected by the latest bacteria, said to be a type of Mycobacterium linked to the water system.

Another senior NHSGGC source said: “This is very serious. These children are vulnerable, their parents are going through a difficult enough time as it is.

“They are trying to fight cancer. They do not need to be infected with anything else. Yes, infections can happen in hospital, but as we have seen before, these types of bacteria are relatively or extremely uncommon.

“They’re not something you want in your body. These children need all the help they can get to overcome cancer, and with these additional infections, that isn’t happening.”

Labour health spokesperson Monica Lennon MSP said the latest incident proves there is something “seriously wrong”, and questioned whether Freeman now had to take action similar to that with the Edinburgh children’s hospital.

The Health Secretary halted the opening of the new hospital earlier this month, just days before it was due to open, after she was informed about problems with ventilation.

Lennon said: “There is no doubt that many patients receive excellent care at the QEUH, but it appears there is something seriously wrong at Scotland’s flagship hospital that is compromising patient safety.

“Patients have already died as a result of infections caused by the hospital, triggering the ongoing major investigation into the building, but how many more people need to get ill or die before the Health Secretary takes serious action?

“Jeane Freeman’s honeymoon period is long over and she’s failing to get a grip of the big problems she inherited from previous SNP ministers. In fact, some things are getting worse and she has failed to reassure the public that the QEUH is safe.

“If she can’t guarantee the safety of patients in every part of the QEUH she’s going to have to explain why, unlike the new Edinburgh Sick Kids which she’s deemed unsafe, it’s still open.”

READ MORE: £50m repair bill for Glasgow's troubled Queen Elizabeth University hospital

Within the last few weeks, HSE staff investigating the pigeon droppings Cryptococcus infection have asked more than 20 NHSGGC employees to attend interviews as part of a criminal probe into the incident.

NHSGGC emphasised that staff were offering to “assist the inspectors in their understanding of the processes and procedures and how things work in practice”.

It also said that no individual person was being investigated.

A source close to the investigation said one employee had been grilled for seven hours by regulators, who will make recommendations and pass their findings to the Crown Office once complete. The source said: “HSE are looking at breaches in the Health and Safety at Work Act, any systemic failures, any organisational or individual failings, from top to bottom.

“They can request access to every piece of documentation going, they have their field investigators in now. The investigation is massive in scale.

“They have issued a notice to a large number of staff, in excess of 20 people, telling them they of their intent to interview them.”

The source added that staff being interviewed include those from nursing, occupational health, estates and facilities, health and safety and nursing, as well as medical employees.

Jeane Freeman has asked Health Facilities Scotland (HFS) and Health Protection Scotland (HPS) to conduct a fingertip search of technical and legal documentation associated with new and recently built projects.

The bodies have been asked to ensure that all projects are compliant with regulations, sources say. The QEUH and RHC are not included in the fingertip search, as they are already subject to an internal investigation by NHSGGC, as well as an external inquiry being chaired by Dr Brian Montgomery, the former medical director and interim chief executive of NHS Fife, and Dr Andrew Fraser, the director of public health science at NHS Health Scotland.

An NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokesman said of the HSE investigation: “The purpose of the investigation is to look at governance and processes relating to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Children on areas highlighted in January’s HIS [Healthcare Improvement Scotland] report as a basis. The meetings, with a small number of staff, are to assist the inspectors in their understanding of the processes and procedures and how things work in practice.

“They are not investigating any individual as part of their investigation.”

On the new bacterial infection, the spokesman said: “We have investigated a single case of infection. There is no outbreak and no other patient is affected.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said of the latest infections: “Our primary concern, and that of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, is the safety and wellbeing of all patients and their families.

“No details of any patient cases can be provided as both we and the health board are bound by strict rules regarding patient confidentiality.

“We expect NHSGGC to ensure that the necessary control measures remain in place and are continually reviewed to ensure patients, families and visitors at the hospital are safe.”

A spokeswoman for the HSE confirmed that as the criminal probe was ongoing, it could not provide further details of the inquiry or those being asked to interview, and added: “HSE’s investigation following the Cryptococcus outbreak at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is ongoing and as this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot go into any further detail.”