{"id":503087,"date":"2025-10-16T03:06:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T03:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/503087\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T03:06:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T03:06:21","slug":"death-of-baby-at-controversial-glasgow-hospital-could-not-have-been-avoided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/503087\/","title":{"rendered":"Death of baby at controversial Glasgow hospital ‘could not have been avoided’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sophia Smith’s death was found to not be linked to conditions at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.\"TragicTragic baby Sophia Smith pictured with mum Teresa.(Image: Daily Record)<\/p>\n

A fatal accident inquiry into the death of a baby girl has found it was not linked to conditions at a controversial Glasgow hospital<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sophia Smith<\/a> was just 11 days old when she died at the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus in Glasgow<\/a> on April 11 2017.<\/p>\n

The newborn became ill with an infection similar to MRSA, which developed into sepsis. Although recommendations have been made to the hospital it was found the tragic death could not be avoided.<\/p>\n

Following an inquiry by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) Sheriff Joanna McDonald made formal findings that an active blood stream infection caused by methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus producing Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL-MSSA) materially contributed to Sophia\u2019s<\/a> death.<\/p>\n

She also found that there were no precautions which could reasonably have been taken, that may have prevented Sophia\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\"ParentsParents Theresa and Matt Smith(Image: Daily Record)<\/p>\n

The PVL-MSSA infection was not related to the built hospital environment and was not associated with the new build hospital at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus, Glasgow.<\/p>\n

PVL-MSSA is a rare strain of Staphylococcus aureus, which is both virulent and aggressive. Vulnerable patients, such as extremely ill neonates like Sophia, are particularly at risk from serious harm or death.<\/p>\n

The Sheriff made a recommendation for weekly screenings for Staphylococcus aureus colonisation, in babies being treated in neonatal intensive care and for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to review their existing protocol.<\/p>\n

The Sheriff also made a recommendation for Public Health Scotland to share risk, diagnosis and treatment information on PVL-MSSA infections, with other neonatal clinical teams throughout Scotland.<\/p>\n

Following a detailed investigation by the Procurator Fiscal, the Lord Advocate decided that it was in the public interest to hold a discretionary Fatal Accident Inquiry to look at the full circumstances surrounding Sophia’s death.<\/p>\n

The Procurator Fiscal, who acts in the public interest, provided comprehensive information to the Inquiry and led evidence on the facts and circumstances of Sophia\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

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Following the publication of the determination, Procurator Fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads on fatalities investigations for COPFS said: “Sophia Smith\u2019s mother, father and their family have my deepest sympathy for all they have endured.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sheriff\u2019s determination, which makes recommendations for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Public Health Scotland, is extensive and detailed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FAI followed a thorough and comprehensive investigation by the Procurator Fiscal, who ensured that the full facts and circumstances of Sophia\u2019s death were presented in evidence.”<\/p>\n

As the independent death investigation authority for Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has a duty to investigate all sudden, suspicious, unexplained, and unexpected deaths, as well as deaths which have occurred in circumstances that give rise to serious public concern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sophia Smith’s death was found to not be linked to conditions at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.Tragic baby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,918,4884,8939,519,712,16,15,12846],"class_list":{"0":"post-503087","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-glasgow","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-queen-elizabeth-university-hospital","12":"tag-royal-family","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-universities-and-colleges"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115381638680513391","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}