Parents of girl who died of infection at Glasgow hospital demand inquiry

The parents of Milly Main, the 10-year-old girl who died after contracting an infection in Glasgow’s crisis-hit children’s hospital, have called for a fatal accident inquiry into her death.

The girl died in August 2017 after contracting an infection while she was recovering from leukaemia treatment on a cancer ward at the Royal Hospital for Children that was later closed because of concerns about water contamination.

Last November whistleblowers revealed that hospital management had been warned of a high risk of infection only three weeks before she died.

Anas Sarwar, Labour MSP for Glasgow, who has been supporting the Main family, told Holyrood infection control doctors alerted management to concerns about line infections, escalating this to Health Protection Scotland and the Scottish government, and requested testing of the water.

Milly had been making a good recovery from cancer treatment when her Hickman line, a catheter used to administer drugs, became infected. A month after her death, an assessment of the water supply again found a high risk of infections.

Speaking to reporters at the Scottish parliament on Thursday afternoon, Milly’s mother, Kimberly Darroch, described the trickle of revelations about her daughter’s death as “soul-destroying”.

“It has been incredibly painful for us to relive Milly’s death, with bits of information slowly being fed to us thanks only to the work of brave NHS whistleblowers, Anas Sarwar and the media.

“We believe Milly would still be alive today if the managers had listened to all the warnings of infection risk when the QEUH first opened. We have lost all faith in the health board and its leadership.”

Darroch and Milly’s father, Neil Main, said they had instructed solicitors and a letter had been sent to the lord advocate, arguing that “the circumstances of Milly’s death gives rise to many questions of significant concern as to how she came to be infected while being treated at a children’s cancer ward”.

The letter acts as a referral of the death to the procurator fiscal. It was not reported by the health board at the time.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Scotland’s largest health board, was placed in the Scottish equivalent of special measures in November by the health secretary, Jeane Freeman, who announced a public inquiry into hospital building flaws in September when concerns about the children’s wards were first raised.

Asked about the case at first minister’s questions on Thursday, Nicola Sturgeon said she sympathised with the family and hoped that the Lord Advocate would respond as quickly as possible.

Darroch said Sturgeon’s remarks were “encouraging”, while Anas Sarwar said Freeman “has to be given the chance to do the right thing.”

He added: “If this had happened in the private sector there would be a criminal investigation, which is why there now needs to be a fatal accident inquiry. This is the very least the family deserves”.