Children have ‘lifelong, debilitating conditions’ after QEUH care, Swinney told

John Swinney has been warned more children could be put at risk of serious harm over the infections “scandal” at a flagship Glasgow hospital.

Parents whose children face “lifelong, debilitating conditions” attended the Scottish Parliament on Thursday as they called for action against the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

The hospital is being investigated by a public inquiry amid concerns contaminated water and ventilation systems may be linked to serious infections and patient deaths.

Charmaine Lacock said there was a “culture of cover-up” at the hospital, and she warned: “People are playing God with our children’s lives”.

Her daughter Paige Rawson, nine, attended the hospital in 2018 and 2020 for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

She received prophylaxis, powerful anti-infection drugs, for eight months and has since suffered from hearing and eyesight issues, sore legs, severe gut issues and pain.

In a message to the First Minister, Ms Lacock said: “Every day you are putting more and more children and adults in this position.

“We’re here today, but unless you start telling the truth there will be more families facing these challenges and more children robbed of their future.”

She said her daughter was harmed at the hospital despite the Scottish Government saying it was made aware of issues at the facility in 2018.

Mark Bissett, father of 14-year-old Charly Bisset, said he is angry because the hospital is “still lying to us”.

Charly was in hospital in 2019 for leukaemia treatment, and was on prophylaxis from July 2019 to March 2020. She is now adrenaline insufficient – a life-altering condition that requires her to take hormone injections.

Mr Bissett said: “To find out that they shouldn’t be taking those drugs, we were told this was part of the treatment and it was anywhere in the UK if you have cancer, and you don’t question it but it just wasn’t true.”

Talking about the First Minister, he added: “How do you sleep at night?”

Aneeka Sohrab’s nine-year-old daughter Eshaal suffers from severe stomach pain, stunted growth and poor hearing after taking the drugs.

She said families need reassurance the hospital is now safe.

Karen Stirrat said her family were “shunned” after speaking out about her son Caleb.

The 10-year-old was given the drugs after being treated for a brain tumour. He now suffers from chronic stomach pain, incontinence, difficulty walking and fatigue.

She said: “We were shunned in there for so long after speaking out. No-one wanted to know us. I can’t understand how they have got away with this. No-one told us we were in the adult part of the hospital. It was like a third-world country. They tried to pull the wool over our eyes and made us feel stupid.”

Another patient, William Young, now suffers from extreme sickness every day.

Leann Young, the 13-year-old’s mother, said she felt helpless. She added: “When you go through the treatment and you aren’t thinking about several years down the line, you are just trying to get through each day. This will affect him for the rest of his life.”

In a message to Mr Swinney, she said: “Why have you allowed a hospital that isn’t safe, why have you put all these people at risk? I don’t want to go in there with the added stress of him picking up an infection.

“You don’t take your child into hospital to get worse, you take them in to get better.”

During First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called on the First Minister to establish an independent panel of experts to investigate each family’s case.

He said families need answers after the “scandal” at the QEUH.

“As everyone in this Parliament knows, that hospital was opened before it was safe and children and adults died as a result,” he said.

“John Swinney said the first time the Government knew about problems at the hospital was March 2018. But even after that date the Government were denying the scale of the problem.”

Mr Sarwar said parents were “lied to” when they were told prophylaxis was standard treatment and not connected to the hospital environment.

“These families believe that their children have been left with lifelong debilitating conditions as a result of prolonged use of these drugs, due to infection risks caused by the hospital environment,” he said.

The First Minister said he would consider creating an independent panel but a final decision would only be made after the current public inquiry.

Asked about the children suffering conditions after receiving the anti-infection drugs, Mr Swinney said: “I cannot give an opinion about the clinical decisions that are offered in individual cases.

“What I can do is express my sympathy to the families that are involved, recognise their suffering and provide them with the reassurance that the inquiry that the Government has established under the leadership of Lord Brodie is designed to capture the evidence and provide the answers to those families.”

The SNP leader said he would be meeting with families on Thursday and in the coming weeks.

He added: “I am absolutely committed to making sure that families get the truth.

“Mr Sarwar asked me to put in place a process which I think, in all honesty, I have to reserve my position on until we get the report from Lord Brodie, because Parliament has asked for a public inquiry to be undertaken, and I cannot, as First Minister, pre-judge the outcome of that public inquiry.

“That is what I think is the rational thing to do. But I will consider the point that Mr Sarwar gives.”

A spokesperson for the First Minister added: “He would be very happy to meet with those families, once he has had a chance to consider the issues that were put to him.”

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has been approached for comment.