New appointment to Vale of Leven C Diff probe

Published on Friday 21 August 2009 14:41

Retired judge Lord MacLean has been appointed to head the inquiry into the outbreak of a hospital bug which claimed nine lives, it was announced today.

The new chairman will replace Lord Coulsfield, who stepped down for health reasons.

Lord MacLean will lead the investigation into the Clostridium difficile outbreak at the Vale of Leven hospital which hit 55 people.

Nine died and the bug was a contributory factor in nine other deaths.

No date has been set for the start of the inquiry, which was announced in April by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon.

The Scottish Government said the terms of reference for the inquiry will be set once Lord MacLean had been consulted.

Labour has been pushing for the scope of inquiry to be extended to outbreaks of C diff at other hospitals.

Ms Sturgeon said today she wanted the inquiry under way as quickly as possible.

"What happened at the Vale of Leven must be fully investigated.

"It's vital that all possible lessons are learned to prevent it happening again.

"That's what the public inquiry will do and I want it to begin its work as soon as possible. We have already made good progress including establishing an inquiry secretariat."

Lord MacLean became an advocate in 1964, a QC in 1977, and a judge in 1990 and was one of the judges at the Lockerbie trial at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.

Labour said the probe should get under way quickly with a remit covering the whole of Scotland.

The bug was a factor in 765 deaths last year, compared with 597 the previous year, and deaths caused by C diff in Gartnavel General in Glasgow nearly doubled over two years, it said.

Labour health spokeswoman Cathy Jamieson said: "I believe that the Scottish Government should listen to experts like Professor Hugh Pennington and take evidence from as many sources as possible."

A wide remit is "vitally important", she said.

"We need to learn lessons from what happened during recent outbreaks in Glasgow and the North of Scotland as well as the Vale of Leven,"