Hospital water system filled ‘too early’, inquiry told

Graham Maciver, junior counsel to the inquiry, asked whether he gained an understanding of what the underlying causes of the issues at the QEUH actually were.

Dr Makin replied: “As far as I’m concerned, obviously, there was the issue of the size of the system, it was so big, so much more easily contaminated when you’ve got a big system like that.”

He said it was a “very complex problem which involved a lot of issues” and that “some of them were outside the control of people who were then occupying the building to a certain extent because they may have inherited some of the problems”.

He also told the inquiry that he did not know whether the water system was flushed or a biocide introduced during the construction process.

Last week, the inquiry heard from the former head of estates for the QUEH who admitted he “dropped the ball” when addressing safety risks at the Queen Elizabeth University campus.

Ian Powrie told the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry it took him three years to read a report that warned the hospital’s water supply was at a high risk of contamination when it opened in 2015.

He said it was not until years later when there was an infection outbreak in the child cancer wards in April 2018 that testing found “systemic”‘ contamination of the water supply.

The inquiry before Lord Brodie – which was launched in the wake of deaths linked to infections at the hospital – continues.