The father of a teenage cancer patient has expressed fury after NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde finally admitted that contaminated water at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital likely caused serious infections in 84 child cancer patients, including two deaths.
John Cuddihy's daughter Molly died last August at age 19 after contracting infections during chemotherapy. She had told a public inquiry in 2021 that the hospital environment made her sicker. The health board had denied any link for years, a delay John described as causing 'avoidable distress and harm'.
The inquiry also heard that the hospital was not ready to open in April 2015, with tests in December 2014 showing microbes in the water supply. The board admitted pressure was applied to open on time and on budget, and that staffing was inadequate.
Whistleblowers who raised concerns were dismissed as 'attention-seeking', the board acknowledged. Families accused the board of 'deceit and cowardice', saying they were 'lied to, disbelieved, demeaned and smeared'.
In a closing statement, families called for past and present leaders to 'face a reckoning' and warned the hospital remains unsafe. The board insisted no individual should be held responsible for institutional failings.
