A senior doctor who raised concerns after a deadly microbe was found in the air at a super hospital before it had even opened was asked if she really “wanted to end” her career, an investigation heard.
Dr Penelope Redding made a series of shocking claims at the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry saying microbiologists at the embattled Queen Elizabeth University Hospital were warned their careers would be destroyed while bosses urged staff not to report concerns about their safety.
She also said there had been a culture of fear and harassment and that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde chief executive Jane Grant tried to stop her reporting.
The 73-year-old was a consultant microbiologist involved in preliminary planning for the new hospital and one of several senior doctors who raised concerns about infection control at the facility.
In a shocking witness statement to the inquiry, he revealed that even before it opened in 2015, concerns had been raised about ventilation and other problems.
Dr Penelope Redding made a series of alarming claims at the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry
Dr Redding, who is now retired, said: ‘The results of air sampling that had been carried out at the new hospital as part of the commissioning process were raising concerns.
‘Microbiologists discovered that during the air sampling process only three air changes were made per hour, compared to the six required by regulations.
“They had also isolated microorganisms, including Mucor, in the pediatric hematology and oncology ward.”
The now-retired doctor said that despite these cases being reported through the proper channels, there was a “general concern that they were not being listened to”.
During the investigation it was reported that she reported her concerns to the then director of diagnostics, Aileen McLennan, as that was the reporting line in place at the time.
But, her written testimony said: “His response was to ask me if I really ‘wanted to end my career this way.'”
The inquiry is investigating whether infections in patients at Glasgow’s £840m Queen Elizabeth University Hospital are linked to problems with its construction, ventilation and water supply.
Ms McLennan should have reported further on the matter, Dr Redding said, but because she had “lost faith in the system” she took her concerns further.
He said he had discussed ventilation issues, highlighting air changes and Mucor, which he had been warned had a “mortality rate of up to 85 per cent in children”.
But her concerns were dismissed, the mortality figure was questioned and she was told that concerns about ventilation were simply her opinion, although she was not the only microbiologist with concerns.
The Edinburgh inquiry, chaired by Lord Brodie, is investigating whether infections in patients at the £840m campus are linked to problems with its construction, ventilation and water supply.
The investigation was launched after several deaths, including that of Milly Main, a 10-year-old cancer patient.
Dr Redding said there was a “deep culture of fear and intimidation where people were afraid to speak up” and management told people “not to put things in writing”.
The retired doctor gave an example, saying that when microbiology students produced a paper detailing their concerns after she urged them to write them down, a meeting was held and she heard a senior doctor say it was “going to destroy their careers”.
Dr Redding was one of the most senior doctors to raise concerns about infection control at the hospital, telling how the board’s chief executive, Jane Grant, begged her not to report her concerns.
She told the inquest: “I remember her specifically telling me that she ‘urged’ me not to do it.”
When she insisted she would do so, she told the inquiry, she was called away by a non-executive director who spent 45 minutes trying to dissuade her and “repeatedly asked me ‘what can we do’ to stop her from doing it”.
Dr Redding told the inquest: “The culture and perception within (the health board) at the time was that a whistleblower should be seen as a troublemaker who should be criticised for raising concerns and causing stress to patients and relatives.”
The investigation continues.