Concern over C. Diff outbreak at Ninewells


Like many other people I have been concerned to hear about the outbreak of C.difficile at Ninewells Hospital. It is important that this is taken seriously and that it is investigated and any lessons which need to be learned are learned. Clearly there is a need for greater transparency which would allow the issues to be dealt with. Marlyn Glen MSP has made her views known, and you can read them here. There was extensive coverage of this issue in tonight's Evening Telegraph. Below is a statement from Labour Shadow Health Secretary Jackie Baillie.



BAILLIE: STURGEON FAILS TO GRASP 'STAGGERING RATE' OF C. DIFF DEATHS AT NINEWELLS


Scottish Labour’s Jackie Baillie has criticised Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon for failing to grasp the scale of the “staggering rate” of mortality from C. difficile at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee which is a higher rate than Scotland’s previous worst outbreak at Vale of Leven.

Shadow Health Secretary Jackie Baillie: “The rate of mortality at Ninewells is staggering and Nicola Sturgeon seems not to have grasped the scale of the problem.
The mortality rate at Vale of Leven, which was the single biggest outbreak in Scotland, was 33 per cent on six wards over a number of months.

“At Ninewells the rate is a staggering 62 per cent – five deaths out of eight wards over a three week period. The Health Secretary has failed to confront the scale of the problem and how serious it is . We need to get answers on why the rate is so high as soon as possible. (1)

“The Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has also known about this outbreak for some three weeks now but chose not to inform the public. There is no possible justification for this lack of transparency.

“Deaths from C. difficile are preventable and these patients may not have contracted the infection if lessons had been properly learned from the Vale of Leven. Now it seems that complacency has been compounded by cover up.”