- Dr Christine Peters claims she was ‘bullied’ by senior managers
- She told the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry she was ‘sworn and shouted at’
A doctor who blew the whistle on hospital infections was signed off work for three months after ‘bullying’ from senior managers, a report of the inquiry in the Daily Mail online has revealed.
Dr Christine Peters claims she was ‘shouted and sworn at’ after raising serious concerns about the risks at Scotland’s flagship £840million Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus, which includes the Royal Children’s Hospital.
The microbiologist told the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry she was targeted after flagging threats to patient safety over air quality and water contamination.
She also had specific worries about the safety of wards used for vulnerable patients, such as those receiving bone marrow transplants.
The probe is currently investigating the construction of the QUEH campus, which includes the Royal Hospital for Children, in the wake of number of deaths linked to infections, including that of 10-year-old Milly Main.
Consultant microbiologist Dr Christine Peters was signed off with stress after concerns about Queen Elizabeth University Hospital were ignored.
But three years later, after failing to get ‘traction’ she felt whistleblowing was the ‘only course of action left’.
Having submitted her report, she was invited to a meeting with a ‘galaxy of individuals’ from senior management and her statement to the inquiry said: ‘I was intimidated by the large number of very senior board employees present. I had expected a smaller group.
‘The tone of the meeting was set when (board director) Dr (Jennifer) Armstrong cut short my introduction.
‘I said I was head of department at QEUH for microbiology, which was the title (her predecessor) Professor (Alistair) Leanord had used for the same position.
‘She said, “You are head of nothing. Brian (Jones) is head of service, just to be clear”. I found this rude, unnecessary, and belittling.’
Dr Peters claimed her concerns were effectively dismissed during the meeting with one individual responding angrily to her suggestion that positive pressure ventilation lobby rooms – used for isolation – in the new hospital were not built to national standards.
She also said it was ‘striking’ that during a discussion of water testing, no reference was made to two third-party reports on water quality at the hospital, one from 2015 and the other ‘at some point’ in late 2017.
The consultant microbiologist said the fact the work had been commissioned meant ‘there could not be assurance on the water system… but we were given absolute assurance’.
The inquiry was shown the ensuing whistleblowing report, which was based on interviews with a number of members of management but no infection control doctors.
It found Dr Peters’s concerns were ‘real but had already been dealt with in the main with action plans for the rest’ – which she told the inquiry she disagreed with.
The report also contained a number of criticisms of the consultant herself, including that she found it ‘difficult to accept the balance of risk’, that she ‘does not accept being part of a team and listening to the views of others’, and that her communication style and ‘persistent stream of emails’ caused ‘great anxiety to colleagues’.
When asked by Craig Connal KC, senior counsel to the inquiry, whether she agreed, Dr Peters said: ‘I sent a lot of emails, as you can see, and as far as I’m concerned every single one was a necessary part of my job.
‘They related to real situations, real patients, real risks, and in the absence of any other route or methodology for communicating those things, then that was really the way to do it.
The inquiry also heard there was a ‘staffing crisis’ in the infection control team even while the workload from such issues was mounting, caused by staff being unwilling to take on the role and going off sick.
Dr Peters added it was ‘not normal’ for workers not to put themselves forward for infection control duties saying it was indicative of the ‘unhealthy culture’ in the team.
The inquiry heard that in January 2019 Dr Peters herself had to be signed off work for three months due to the ‘extreme stress and bullying’ she was experiencing from managers.
She highlighted two occasions when she was shouted and sworn at by a manager in front of colleagues, on one occasion fearing she would be physically attacked.
The inquiry also heard about growing evidence of infections and pathogens at the hospital between 2014 and 2019, including evidence of pathogen-containing mould on parts of the water system, infections consistent with a water source with ‘biofilm’ on it, and infections linked to pigeon guano.
An NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokesman said: ‘These matters are to be explored in the ongoing inquiry and while NHSGGC continues to co-operate with the inquiry, it would be inappropriate to comment on this at this time.’
The inquiry continues.