Infection experts refused Sick Kids hospital sign off - inquiry

Infection control experts refused to sign off a new children's hospital as safe because they had not been able to assess its ventilation risks, a public inquiry has heard.

The delayed 2019 opening of Edinburgh's Sick Kids hospital is being examined by the Scottish hospitals inquiry.

The hospital was handed over to NHS Lothian from contractors without a key infection risk check being carried out.

This was a missed chance to assess ventilation issues, the inquiry heard.

The opening of the children's hospital in Edinburgh was postponed when last-minute inspections found safety concerns over its ventilation systems.

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Dr Donald Inverarity, the lead infection prevention and control doctor for NHS Lothian, told the inquiry of his surprise when it was announced in February 2019 that the health board had formally taken over the facility from contractors ahead of its scheduled opening in July that year.

He said this surprise stemmed from the fact that a check to asses the risk of acquiring an infection in the new hospital had not been completed at that stage.

The infection control team said this was because they did not have the information, from an independent validation report, that was needed to assess whether the ventilation and water systems were "fit for purpose".

In his statement to the inquiry, Dr Inverarity said for him and his colleagues, "none of us were comfortable that we could truthfully sign a document that explicitly asks whether the ventilation system and water system do not pose a risk of spreading infection when we did not have sight of data that had demonstrated that they didn't".

In his evidence to the inquiry, he added: "We were concerned that due process was not being followed."

Dr Inverarity said not doing these checks before the handover from the contractor was "potentially missing your last chance of being assured that the area is safe".

He added: "There was potential risk being accepted and we didn't know what it was".

The issues surrounding the opening of the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh are being examined by a public inquiry

The infection control expert also told the inquiry that he saw "some potential parallels" with building issues at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

It was only when the children's hospital had been handed over to NHS Lothian, and £1.4m monthly repayments had started, that independent checks found the critical care rooms were operating with the wrong air flow.

Remedial work worth £16m was then carried out and the new Sick Kids building started hosting outpatient appointments in July 2021.

'Compromised environment'

The inquiry also heard that another consequence of the delay was that plans to move patients from the Department of Clinical Neurosciences in Edinburgh's Western General Hospital into the new building were also put on hold.

This was a problem because the facilities at the Western General, according to Dr Inverarity, "were deteriorating and there were significant issues with water contamination" and that this meant "services had to continue in a very compromised environment with real risk of post-operative healthcare-associated infections".

A report commissioned by NHS Lothian in 2019 said the mistakes made on the delayed hospital project were a "collective failure" and the board has previously said "at no point" were patients put at any risk.

The inquiry, before Lord Brodie, is this week due to hear from senior NHS Lothian executives and Scottish government officials.