Milly’s mum: More will die unless health board chiefs are axed

MORE people will die at a flagship hospital unless health board bosses are axed, bereaved families have warned.

Kimberly Darroch, whose daughter Milly Main died in 2017 after catching a water-linked infection at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow, said she is ‘angry’ that more families are suffering from alleged cover-ups.

She blamed NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde bosses and said there will be more cases unless they are removed.

Scottish Government official Andrew Slorance’s widow Louise Slorance, who was not told he had contracted the aspergillus infection at the same hospital before his death last year, backed the comments.

She called on SNP ministers to ‘say whose side they are on’ – the health board or the families of victims.

But the SNP and Greens yesterday united to vote down a Scottish parliament motion of no confidence in the health board and refused to step in to take control of it.

At a press conference in Edinburgh, Miss Darroch said hearing Mrs Slorance’s experiences four years after the death of her ten-year-old daughter have made her ‘really angry’.

She said: ‘We have worked tirelessly to stop this from happening again, and that was my main focus after Milly died.

‘And the reason I basically came into public life was so that no family had to go through what I’ve gone through, and that hasn’t happened. It has continued to happen and it will continue to happen until something is done about the leadership of the health board.’

Appearing alongside her, Mrs Slorance said: ‘I second the latter part of what you said. I think the Scottish Government need to show which side they are on: whether it is us or the health board management team.’

Last week, a whistleblower claimed a child cancer patient died after contracting aspergillus in November 2020, only weeks before Mr Slorance died after catching the same infection in the same QEUH ward.

A second clinician claimed there has been at least one other death in recent months from stenotrophomonas, the waterlinked infection mentioned on Milly’s death certificate.

This week, Scottish Labour released images showing mould growing in QEUH wards.

Miss Darroch said yesterday she was ‘absolutely disgusted’ by the photos. She said: ‘Either the hospital is closed or the wards moved until the areas are sorted.

‘It’s beyond belief that a hospital that has just been built is in such a state.’ She added: ‘We need the health board to be held accountable, we need them to be removed from the job they are doing in order for patients, families and the general population of Scotland to have trust.’

Mrs Slorance said: ‘This Sunday it will be a year since Andrew died and we need to know that Andrew’s and Milly’s deaths are not in vain. Action needs to be taken now.’

On Tuesday, 23 QEUH clinicians complained of ‘unfounded criticism’ of staff. In a letter to the First Minister and Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, they raised ‘frustration’ at the portrayal of patients’ treatment.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar yesterday called for the ‘culture of secrecy, of cover-up and denial’ to come to an end.

A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: ‘We would like to share our deepest

‘We need them to be removed’

‘Culture of secrecy’

sympathies with the families and loved ones of any patient who has sadly passed away while in our care and reassure patients and members of the public that our staff do their utmost to provide treatment to give the best quality of life possible to our patients.

‘Our entire focus remains on delivering high quality patientcentred care and meeting the needs of our patients and their families.

‘We have taken all reviews into the QEUH seriously and we have taken decisive action to implement the vast majority of actions that were set, meaning that significant improvements have already been made.’