Glasgow hospital bosses failed to report 4 new cases of bird poop related infections

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Health bosses failed to tell watchdogs about new patient infections linked to bird poo at a hospital where two others died with the bug.

Four patients became infected with Cryptococcus after being treated at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow this year.

The superhospital is already under scrutiny after patients developed a variety of rare infections while being treated at the £842m site.

The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry is looking into the construction of the hospital and whether problems with the water and ventilation system could be linked to the outbreaks.

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 otuside. 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.

“The patients who have been in for a substantial length of time, there is no possible...it just doesn’t make sense that they brought it with them.

“If they acquired it from their home environment they’d keep coming back with the same thing and that hasn’t been seen as far as I’m aware.”

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