Review ordered after child’s death linked to pigeon droppings at Glasgow hospital

A root and branch review has been ordered into Scotland’s newest £842 million flagship hospital after it was confirmed today an infection linked to pigeon droppings contributed to the death of a child patient.

Jeanne Freeman launched the review. Picture: John Devlin

Health Secretary Jeanne Freeman told MSPs that the review into the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow will examine how “fit for purpose” the building is after a string of issues since it opened four years ago.

An elderly patient and child died after contracting the infection linked to pigeon droppings.

Ms Freeman revealed today that the elderly patient had died from an unrelated cause, but that the bacteria had been a “contributing factor” in the death of the child.

It emerged today that traces of excrement had been found in a plant room on the roof-top floor of the hospital where a gap in the wall had allowed pigeons to get through.

Ms Freeman says there is now widespread concern about a “number of instances in the fabric” of the hospital which are “less than satisfactory.”

The cabinet secretary added: “I have agreed a review with external expert advice that will look at the design of the building, the commissioning of the work, the construction of the building, the handover of the building and the maintenance of the building in order to ensure we identify where issues were raised, they should have been addressed and where maintenance programmes now should perhaps be more robust, or more frequent or whatever.”

Independent expert advice will be sought on the progress of the review, the minister added.