Prosecutors have confirmed investigations into seven patient deaths at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. The announcement follows the emergence of two additional cases under examination, adding to previous investigations into fatalities linked to contaminated water and ventilation system failures at the facility.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service identified 23-year-old Molly Cuddihy and Andrew Slorance, a former Scottish government civil servant, among those whose deaths are being scrutinized. Cuddihy, diagnosed with rare bone cancer at fifteen, received treatment at both the hospital’s children’s wing and the main facility before dying in August. Her organs deteriorated from powerful infection-fighting medications combined with cancer therapy.
Earlier investigations examined four deaths, including 10-year-old Milly Main in 2017, two other children, and 73-year-old Gail Armstrong in 2019. Armstrong contracted a fungal infection while undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. A sixth case involved 65-year-old Anthony Dynes, who died in 2021 while being treated for the same lymphoma type at the hospital.
Health board testimony revealed serious infections affected eighty-four child cancer patients, with two fatalities probably caused by the contaminated water system. Senior microbiologists who initially reported infection control deficiencies expressed continued significant concerns about management’s implementation of necessary changes during recent inquiry proceedings.
Scottish Labour leadership presented meeting minutes suggesting political pressure forced the hospital’s premature opening in April 2015, before a general election. Officials claim the decision prioritized politics over patient safety, resulting in a decade of infections, deaths, and institutional failures. The health board has issued apologies while asserting it now operates differently than during the hospital’s original construction phase.
