Scotland\u2019s largest health board has finally admitted that contaminated water at a Glasgow super-hospital caused serious infections in child cancer patients that were linked to four deaths.<\/p>\n
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) made the dramatic U-turn in closing submissions to a long-running inquiry that was launched after deaths linked to infections, including that of 10-year-old Milly Main<\/a>, who died in August 2017 after contracting an infection as she recovered from leukaemia treatment.<\/p>\n On Monday morning the Scottish Conservatives<\/a> demanded an urgent statement from the SNP government\u2019s health secretary, Neil Gray, on the 11th-hour admission to the Scottish hospitals inquiry, which was set up in 2020 to examine the design and construction of the crisis-hit Queen Elizabeth university hospital in Glasgow and the Royal hospital for children, which are on the same campus.<\/p>\n Milly was one of two children who died at the Royal hospital for children<\/a> after being treated on a cancer ward that was later closed because of concerns about water contamination.<\/p>\n In closing submissions to the inquiry published before final oral hearings, the health board said it accepted it was \u201cmore likely than not\u201d that the children\u2019s infections had \u201ca connection to the state of the hospital water system\u201d.<\/p>\n It added: \u201cNHSGGC accepts that, on the balance of probabilities, there is a causal connection between some infections suffered by patients and the hospital environment, in particular the water system.\u201d<\/p>\n Milly\u2019s mother, Kimberly Darroch, welcomed the admission but said it should have come much earlier for the families involved.<\/p>\n Darroch told BBC Scotland News: \u201cAs a mother, I\u2019ve spent six years fighting for answers that should have been given at the very beginning.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is good news that the health board has admitted that, on the balance of probabilities, there was a causal connection between the environment and Milly\u2019s bloodstream infection. This acknowledgment is a significant milestone for our family, but it also highlights how hard families have had to fight just to have the truth recognised.\u201d<\/p>\n