1 hour agoShareSavePaul O’Hare,BBC ScotlandandLisa Summers,Scotland health and social care correspondentShareSaveThe father of a woman whose death is being investigated by prosecutors said a health board was “warned for years” about issues with a hospital water system that it has now admitted probably caused infections in child cancer patients.Molly Cuddihy, who died in August aged 23, became seriously ill in 2018 with an infection potentially acquired at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde had consistently denied bacteria in the water was responsible for causing some infections which led to the deaths of patients.It has now admitted that “on the balance of probabilities” there was a “causal connection” between some infections and the hospital environment.Molly’s father, John, told BBC Scotland News the statement was “overdue recognition”.He added: “Molly’s words and experience must continue to echo beyond her lifetime.”A spokesperson for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) said it was supporting the inquiry while the Scottish government said it would be “inappropriate to comment”.The probe was launched to examine mistakes made in the planning, design and construction of the QEUH campus following concerns about unusual infections and the deaths of four patients.Those included 10-year-old Milly Main, who died after contracting the stenotrophomonas bacteria while undergoing treatment for leukaemia in 2017.A separate corporate homicide investigation into the deaths of Milly, two other children and 73-year-old Gail Armstrong was launched in 2021.And last year prosecutors opened an investigation into Molly’s death after it was reported by a consultant.Molly, from Gourock, Inverclyde, was 15 when she was diagnosed with metastatic Ewing sarcoma.In 2024 she told BBC Scotland News how she knew something was wrong when the radiographer started crying during her scan.Cuddihy said concerns about the water supply were first raised in 2018, the same year Molly developed septic shock while receiving cancer treatment at the QEUH.The former Police Scotland head of organised crime and counter terrorism said all his daughter wanted was official acknowledgement that there was an issue with the hospital’s water system.Cuddihy added: “The sad thing is Molly is in her grave and she never got to read the words or hear what they had to say.”The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry will this week hear oral submissions and Cuddihy hopes patients will be at the heart of the proceedings.He said: “What I would like going forward is that Molly’s voice and the voices of those other children will influence real change.”Cuddihy said this would include annual, validated checks to hospital ventilation and water systems. Molly’s treatment for her previous hospital-acquired infections in 2018 and 2019, as …
