By Democrat reporter
Families affected by the infections scandal at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus, which covers West Dunbartonshire, have blasted NHS board bosses for spending £thousands coaching their staff about how to give evidence at the public inquiry into the saga.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) is spending £20,000 a year on the contract with an external firm to prepare their staff to appear at the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry.
The inquiry is investigating the problems at Glasgow’s £842million Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH), where dozens of patients developed rare infections and some people, including ten-year-old Milly Main, died.
Relatives of those impacted have accused the health board of trying to learn how to protect their reputation rather than get to the truth.
The Sunday Mail has revealed that David Campbell, whose son James was being treated for cancer in 2018 when he was given anti-fungal drugs due to the problems with contaminated water, said: “The narcissistic leadership of NHSGGC appear to have unlimited access to public money which they are squandering by trying to maintain their defensive approach to the inquiry.”
“The PR-drilled witnesses they’ve provided have appeared entirely out of their depth and often met the anger of the inquiry team for their nonchalant attitude, so it seems the money spent on coaching them has been wasted.
“Thankfully as a result of the hard work of the inquiry team the truth is revealing itself every day.”
NHSGGC said it used PR firm Second City Communications “to support staff who may be entering an unfamiliar environment, allowing them to confidently present and answer any questions asked of them in a public forum.”
Patrick McGuire, a partner at Thompsons solicitors, which is representing the majority of families affected by the QEUH scandal, said his clients have been horrified to learn about the coaching. He said: “The health board have yet again managed to lower themselves further in the eyes of the families who are only seeking the truth.”
Louise Slorance is fighting for answers about what happened to her husband Andrew when he developed an infection while waiting for a bone marrow transplant in 2020. She said: “Watching NHSGGC witnesses giving evidence, it’s clear they’ve been told to repeat key phrases.
“The health board are deluded if they believe they’re buying their way to an accepted narrative about what happened at the QEUH. The gaps in evidence are obvious, the failures clear. No amount of money or spin will change this.”
However, she would say: “NHSGGC has a long-standing arrangement with this company which has, over the years, provided a broad range of training to support staff in a large variety of settings, including for broadcast media interviews and other public speaking engagements, such as public inquiries and parliamentary hearings.”
Meanwhile, the health board – chairman John Brown and Chief Executive Jane Grant have resigned or retired – failed to disclose information about new patient infections linked to bird poo at the hospital campus – it includes the Royal Children’s Hospital – where two other patients died with the bug.
Chairman John Brown and Chief Executive Jane Grant, resigned and retired.
Lawyers for the inquiry revealed last week that four patients have been infected with cryptococcus but NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) didn’t tell watchdogs Health Protection Scotland about three of the cases.
In 2019 73-year-old cancer patient Gail Armstrong died after being infected with the fungus as did a 10-year-old boy.
NHSGGC claimed it didn’t report the latest cases because “ Cryptococcus infections are not rare and are an acknowledge risk for patients who have organ transplant or who are immunocompromised…These patients will spend the majority of their time in the community where Cryptococus is ubiquitous in the environment.”
The hospital itself has been plagued by pigeons since it opened with the Sunday Mail revealing images showing mounds of bird poo gathered around the campus.
Consultant Microbiologist Dr Sara Mumford, who was investigating problems at the QEUH, told the inquiry the new cases should have been reported to watchdogs.
She said: “I would want to be taking it much more seriously than they appear to be doing.
“Cryptococcus iis very rare – it’s not common. There are 100 cases or less in the UK each year. If you have four inside a year in one place then there is a potential public health interest in that. For that purpose alone I would have reported it.”
Mumford was also asked about NHSGGC’s claims that patients who developed rare infections may have brought the bugs in to the hospital themselves.
She said: “You can’t make that assumption of all of these patients. A lot of them have been in hospital for a long period of time and were not going outside. That’s why we have a defintion of healthcare associated infections occuring the day of or the day after the admission.
“You have to draw the line somewhere.”