Widow says scandal hit Glasgow hospital kept rare infection secret until after cancer death

Maureen Dynes and husband Tony
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Medics at a scandal hit Glasgow hospital failed to tell a widow about a rare infection her husband had before he died from cancer.

Maureen Dynes has questioned why health bosses kept husband Tony’s condition a secret over fears it may have contributed to his death. The 53-year-old childminder lost her husband of 29 years in 2021 at Glasgow’s Queen ­Elizabeth University Hospital.

The mum of two told the Sunday Mail: “Only a post-mortem could have shown if these infections contributed to his death but we didn’t know about them. Now it’s too late.

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"I just want answers. If the hospital was safe when it opened people would not have died. If they had learned from previous infections Tony might still be alive.

“I don’t even know now if his treatment did work and he deteriorated due to these infections. I don’t know why I wasn’t told. He’s missed so much –walking his daughter down the aisle, seeing his son get married."

Tony, 63, who had lymphoma, has been admitted to the QEUH in September 2020 for a stem cell transplant when he became infected with Aspergillus – a mould found in the environment which can be fatal in people with severely low immune systems. On a further stay in 2021 he unknowingly contracted ­Stenotrophomans maltophilia – a bacteria linked to the water system.

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She said: “They mentioned Aspergillus but I was told it was ‘just an infection’. After Tony got out he had a cough due to the infection. The cough continued until he died.”

In February 2021, the couple got the news that the transplant hadn't worked but were told that they could try Car T-Cell therapy in a last effort to save Tony's life. He went back to ward 4B in March 2021.

Maureen said: “I was worried as Tony was still coughing and asked if it could impact his treatment. A test in April 2021 showed he still had Aspergillus but next time I asked I was told he didn’t.”

Maureen Dynes
Maureen Dynes -Credit:Ross Turpie DailyRecord / Sunday Mail

Tony had the Car T-Cell therapy and began to improve. He was preparing to go home but Maureen said: “Something wasn’t right. His eyes had lost their sparkle, he wasn’t himself. Two days later they told me the treatment hadn’t worked.”

Tony died the next day – Friday May 21, 2021. Maureen then heard a TV interview with Louise Slorance, whose husband Andrew was in the same ward around the same time as Tony and had also contracted Aspergillus.

She requested Tony’s medical notes and only then saw the positive test for Stenotrophomans maltophilia. She found emails showing medics knew he had it the week before he died after testing his Hickman line – a tube used to give meds.

Kimberly Darroch only found out about a possible infection link two years after daughter Milly Main's death
Kimberly Darroch only found out about a possible infection link two years after daughter Milly Main's death -Credit:PA

Four years earlier Milly Main, 10, had the same infection at the QEUH campus. Mum Kimberly only found out it was linked to her death from her death certificate. A review found it was likely linked to the hospital environment.

Maureen said: “They didn’t tell us about problems with the ventilation or water. They said only drink bottled water, just as a precaution. I don’t know if Tony brushed his teeth with tap water. I imagine he showered and his dentures needed to be soaked – was that in tap water?”

Maureen and Louise support each other. Maureen said: “We are bonded by something we never thought could happen.”

Offering its sympathies “to families who have lost loved ones in our care”, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde added: “We’ll continue to support the inquiry”.

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