“I have to do this for my son because I have to get answers for him.”
Carolanne Baxter, 42, whose baby son William died at the QEUH in July 2019.(Image: Tony Nicoletti/Daily Record)
A grieving mum who lost her baby son at a scandal-hit hospital has called for a wider probe into the troubled site.
Carolanne Baxter wants the neonatal unit at Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Children to be included in the ongoing Scottish Hospitals Inquiry looking into the problems at the facility and adjoining Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH).
Since she first learned about the wider concerns about the QEUH campus, she has been plagued with doubt about the circumstances of her son William’s deterioration and death.
We revealed last week that more than £78million has been spent investigating and repairing the QEUH since it opened a decade ago, including £10million being spent to fix ventilation in a child cancer ward, £6million for tap filters and £880,000 for water and air testing.
Now, the 42-year-old mum of three from Glasgow, who lost William in 2019, has now told for the first time of her heartbreaking experience.
Carolanne said: “I have to do this for my son because I have to get answers for him. The inquiry always looks at the child cancer wards but I was in the neonatal intensive care unit with William and things weren’t right there either.
“We were told not to drink tap water, only bottled water. If there were no issues with the water supply, then why was that?”
(Image: UGC)
William was born premature at 28 weeks and five days old on January 29, 2019. He never left the hospital and died there on July 18 that year.
Carolanne said he developed several infections while at the hospital and was given three types of medication, which she claimed she didn’t know about.
She fears the infections could have been linked to the environment. Carolanne said: “He had cannulas [tubes for giving medication and fluid] all over him – in his arms, legs, even in his head.
“We know those are areas where infections could get in easily. He was born in good condition but two weeks later he got an infection and developed sepsis.”
According to William’s medical notes, he had been “colonised with serratia”, a type of bacteria previously investigated at the neonatal unit years earlier after a number of babies were found to have it.
He was also found to have been infected with two other bacteria called staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae, resulting in sepsis. His medical records also state that his central line – another type of tube used for giving medicines – was infected and had “blocked and burst” and had to be replaced.
As he was born so prematurely, William had various complex health problems and was due to have heart surgery but this was cancelled.
(Image: UGC)
Carolanne said: “They kept having to cancel the operations because he had infections. He would fight back from the infections but something would come again. He never got the surgery in the end.”
Along with infections, William had several broken ribs and a broken arm, which Carolanne claims medics failed to explain or tell her about until days after they discovered the injuries.
She said: “It took them three days to tell me he had broken ribs and a broken arm. They said it was because he was premature and it could have been when he was being handled.
“I don’t know why I wasn’t told straight away.” Carolanne insists she had not realised there were concerns about infections in other parts of the site.
She said: “It wasn’t until two years later and my mum said there had been problems with the QEUH and infections. I started reading into it and realised it was when I was there with William. It made me question everything and made me think about why certain things were happening.
“We were moved out of rooms, told not to drink the tap water. William had got infections when he was in the hospital and he never left there, so were any of them related to the environment?
“It was like a double whammy, it hit me all over again.” In 2022, Carolanne was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of what happened to William.
She said: “I had to give up work, I wasn’t able to be a good mum to the rest of my children. It goes round and round in my head, what could I have done differently? What did I not notice?”
Carolanne is a witness at the public inquiry looking into the QEUH campus problems but said there has been no focus on the neonatal unit and potential problems there. She said: “That’s why I wanted to give a statement, in the hope they would take it into account too because I know things were not right there.”
An NHSGGC spokesman said: “The NICU is part of the older, retained estate on the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus and has a separate water and ventilation system. It does not form part of the new-build hospitals covered by the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry’s terms of reference.
“We have carried out, and continue to take, significant action to reduce environmental risks in our hospitals to help us to provide high quality care.”
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