A WARD treating children with cancer has been closed to new admissions after three patients contracted infections.
Patients were moved to ward 6A at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow as a temporary measure last September when two children’s cancer wards at the neighbouring Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) were closed for upgrades after an infection outbreak. Two months later, a 10-year-old boy being treated for cancer at QEUH was one of two patients who contracted an infection linked to pigeon droppings and later died.
The deaths led Health Secretary Jeane Freeman to order an independent review into whether the design, build, commissioning and maintenance of the £842 million two-hospital campus, which opened in 2015, has had an adverse impact on the risk of healthcare-associated infection.
Now, three patients have contracted infections at ward 6A in the past fortnight, two from different rare bacteria, and an investigation is being carried out into the source of the infections, with none so far being identified. Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board said infection rates at the ward remain within expected levels. Part of the ward is being kept empty for investigations and new admissions are being temporarily diverted, with antibiotics being given to remaining inpatients as a precaution.
A spokeswoman for the health board said: “A number of measures have been taken to enhance the environment within ward 6A and to improve the quality of the water supply and of the air quality. These measures are having good effect with positive results.
“These are two different infections and at this stage there is nothing to link the infections to the ward’s infection control practices or the environment. In order to facilitate our investigations, we require to keep part of the ward unoccupied for a short period.”
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