Site manager at flagship hospital felt it was ‘unsafe’ in 2018, inquiry told
Site manager Phyllis Urquhart said that critical roles around water safety were not filled until 2018, and described the site as ‘non-compliant’.
A site manager at a superhospital described it as “non-compliant” and said she had concerns over water safety due to lack of staff, the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry heard.
Phyllis Urquhart, a compliance manager at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, joined the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus in 2017, two years after it opened.
She gave evidence at the inquiry, which is currently investigating the construction of the QEUH campus in Glasgow, including the Royal Hospital for Children, and was launched in the wake of deaths linked to infections.
Ms Urquhart said that several critical roles around water safety were not filled until 2018, and described the site as “non-compliant”.
The inquiry heard an audit was missed in 2019 and Ms Urquhart urged for it to be completed but this never happened.
Graham Maciver, junior counsel to the inquiry, asked: “What was (the) level of compliance when you started?”
Ms Urquhart said: “Non-compliant. It was very difficult to obtain any sorts of records across the board.”
She described QEUH as “a completely different beast” from other buildings she had been in, and in early 2018 she began to think it was “unsafe”.
She said: “When I started there in the compliance manager role I was very, very disappointed, because I thought, ‘where are the people?’
“I know for a fact there wasn’t staff in roles. In the plant rooms it was a significant challenge in terms of size of water tanks, size of pumps, that was significant, and you think to yourself, ‘this is a complete different beast’ from other 11 storey buildings you’ve been in and seen.”
Ms Urquhart said roles including “authorised person for water”, and a “responsible person for water” had not been filled when she started, and she felt training was insufficient to do the job “competently”.
She said it was difficult to obtain records, and said: “You would maybe be going in looking for specific records, planned preventative maintenance tasks, records as to alterations carried out to pipework.
“Something as simple as, ‘can you tell me who the authorised person is?’; what contractors we are using?; qualifications for contractors and our own staff; a whole range of water related assurances you would be looking for.”
Mr Maciver said: “Was there a point where you started to cross over to think this isn’t a safe system?”
Ms Urquhart said: “Possibly yes, maybe beginning of 2018.”
She said this was based on “my knowledge and seeing the whole big picture”.
Ms Urquhart said she felt single bedrooms created a problem for the healthcare environment, and toilets being repurposed as storage space was an issue which continued to cause her frustration.
Giving evidence, she said that she felt it was her “personal responsibility” to ask about a missed audit in 2019 – which was never completed.
She said: “Personally, I think there’s a big education shortfall for all individuals involved within the healthcare environment.”
Ms Urquhart said she was met with “pushback” in her role, but tried to put “robust and relevant systems” in place.
She said: “I think that everyone asked about the job and the individual role always has these greater expectations to achieve, to put systems in place so that no-one was put at risk, and I don’t feel I’ve achieved that.”
The inquiry continues in Edinburgh in front of Lord Brodie.
