By JOHN McCANN
RELATIVES of patients who died in hospital after contracting the C. diff bug are to take legal action.
A total of 18 deaths have been linked to the clostridium difficile bacteria at the Vale of Leven Hospital in Alexandria, Dunbartonshire, and in half of the cases it was the main cause of death.
Families of seven of the nine victims have announced they intend to pursue NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde through the courts.
One of the family members, Michelle Stewart, 33, whose mother-in- law Sarah McGinty, 67, died after contracting C. diff, said the case was not about financial gain .
She added: “My motherin-law had had a stroke, but that was in December last year.
“She was all set to come home, but then she contracted C. diff.
“They put down the stroke as the cause of death, but she was coming home.
We had a care package in place.”
The families are meeting today in Dumbarton to outline the grounds of their legal challenge and are expected to announce details of its legal team.
In the outbreak, dating back to January, 55 patients have been diagnosed with C. diff. The last one died last month and two patients are still being treated in isolation for the bug.
An unconnected outbreak at Glasgow’s Victoria Infirmary has closed a ward to new admissions. No one has died there but four patients have been isolated.
A NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokeswoman said: “We have not been informed of any intended legal action at this stage.
“However, we recognise the rights of patients or their next of kin to use the complaints procedure, or indeed take legal action, and we have processes in place to deal with such matters.”
Last week it was revealed a record number of pensioners have been diagnosed with the C. diff bug in Scotland.
Figures showed there were 1861 cases among the over-65s between January and March this year, up 16-per cent from 1608 in the past three months of 2007.
Health professionals said the rise could be linked to the changing seasons but warned it is too early to draw defi nite conclusions, as rates have been monitored for less than two years.
The cases at the Vale of Leven led to accusations that Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon did not act quickly enough to tackle the outbreak.
But she hit back, stating as soon as it was brought to her attention a review of infection control procedures was ordered. She also announced an independent review, with results expected later this month.
Last month Tom Divers, chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said he “bitterly regretted” the shortcomings at the Vale of Leven and offered to apologise if further failures were identified.
News of the legal action in Scotland came as it emerged the NHS is being sued for tens of millions of pounds in damages over bugs contracted in hospitals.
Almost GBP7.5m has already been paid out to more than 100 victims of the superbug MRSA and C. diff.
A backlog of hundreds more claims are yet to be settled, with GBP42m set aside to cover potential payouts.
Originally published by Newsquest Media Group.
(c) 2008 Evening Times; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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