According to a senior physician, the quantity and variety of infections at Glasgow's child cancer wards were unlike anything he had ever encountered.
Dr. Dermot Murphy testified at a public hearing that he came to believe that environmental factors were to blame.
At the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus, he was one of the medical professionals who testified regarding infections.
Except in two specific instances, NHS Greater Glasgow disputes a connection between the structures and infections.
When the QEUH campus, which houses the Royal Hospital for Children, first opened in 2015, it was hailed as a cutting-edge building.
Three years later, however, a string of infection outbreaks as well as worries about the ventilation and water systems started to surface.
This week, Dr. Murphy testified before the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry that he thought there was a connection between the atmosphere at the new children's hospital and the infections that resulted in the wards' closure in 2018.
The pediatric oncologist claimed that in all of the hospitals he had worked at, he had never witnessed the "number and type of infections" Glasgow's child cancer wards were experiencing.
"I've worked at the Royal London Hospital, at Great Ormond Street, and at the Royal Marsden Hospital, but I haven't seen the types and variety of environmental gram-negative infections that we are seeing in the new children's hospital in Glasgow," he said. ".
While it was challenging to find information on infection rates elsewhere, Dr. Murphy told the inquiry that he talked about the situation with colleagues in other hospitals.
From those conversations, he concluded, "we were learning that we were seeing far more infections in Glasgow than similar units were throughout the UK.".
"At European meetings, people said we were seeing more infections than their colleagues there because we were. We were also seeing more infections than colleagues in Scotland and the UK. ".
After the wards closed in 2018, he admitted to the inquiry that he started to worry about the entire hospital property.
He claimed in written testimony provided to Lord Brodie that every clinical location the department had moved to "proved to have defective build issues.".
Senior counsel Alister Duncan KC of the inquiry was informed by him. He stated, "I was concerned that wherever we moved within the children's hospital or the adult hospital, we would uncover similar problems to those that we were leaving behind. ".
Families of a number of patients who passed away at the QEUH campus have expressed concern. One such patient was 10-year-old Milly Main, who was receiving leukaemia treatment when she passed away from a rare bacterial infection.
After contracting the fungus known as Cryptococcus, two additional patients passed away.
Leading paediatric cancer expert Prof. Brenda Gibson spoke to the inquiry earlier in the week.
Thirty years ago, she founded the department at Yorkhill's former Glasgow Children's Hospital, and she has been in charge of it ever since.
She informed the inquiry that she had declined to give her approval to the plans for the unit at the new hospital because they did not have the facilities they needed.
In a flagship hospital, we had been promised a like-for-like unit, but it was unquestionably not one, according to Prof. Gibson.
She claimed that when staff discovered there were no air filters in the transplantation rooms, it caused delays in the treatment of some cancer patients.
Prof. Gibson claims that as staff noticed unusual infections in children more frequently than they had anticipated, they grew increasingly concerned.
Despite repeated cleanings of the taps, sinks, and drains, according to her, the infections persisted.
According to Prof. Gibson, it can be challenging for staff to communicate with already stressed-out and confused families.
She testified to the inquiry that she had never received an explanation regarding whether or not the hospital environment was to blame for the infections from senior managers at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
There are two accounts of what transpired, she said.
"Either there is an actual environmental problem, or there isn't. Which is true, I'm still not sure. ".
According to our opinion, the health board headed by the chief executive is responsible for creating a secure environment in which that treatment can be administered. ".
Nursing staff testified on Wednesday regarding the effects on patients of the constant patient movement required for cleaning.
In the adult hospital, they also discussed having to move kids to unsuitable wards.
Emma Sommerville, a senior charge nurse, said some had contacted their union to voice concerns about the kids being in a dangerous place.
More testimony from front-line clinical staff and managers with a close connection to the department will be heard at the inquiry next week.
Senior executives are anticipated to testify in the investigation next year, according to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which says it is still cooperating with it.
The new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh will also be the subject of the public inquiry.
Only a few days prior to its July 2019 opening date, ventilation system issues were found.
