Dead pigeons found at Glasgow superhospital years before action taken, inquiry hears
dailyrecord.co.ukDead pigeons were being found in a hospital at the centre of infection concerns years before action was taken to address the issue, an inquiry has heard.
The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry was told that as early as 2016, pest controllers were being called to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow to remove dead pigeons from plant rooms, where air handling units linked to the ventilation system were located.
The inquiry was shown part of a survey by cleaning firm GP Environmental from March 2017, which stated "ledges, beams, walls, floors and walkways of the plant rooms" had "a heavy build-up" of pigeon droppings.Another GP Environmental report from 2018, relating to sanitisation work in a plant room, said: "All pipe lagging will need replaced due to damage from pigeon fouling."Karen Connelly, who became general manager of estates and facilities at the hospital in 2018, having previously worked there as part of a project team until 2015, told the inquiry she had not been aware of these reports, but that the pigeon problem at the hospital was "well known".The former facilities manager, whose team was responsible for pest control, said it was not until January 2019 that she became aware pigeons were getting into plant rooms.She said shortly before this, she became aware of a potential link between pigeon droppings and Cryptococcosis, which had been identified by the hospital's Internal Medicine Training team. Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. Cryptococcosis is a fungal infection that can spread to humans from pigeon droppings.Up until this point, she said, she thought pigeons posed a health and safety risk of "slipping, and also from an
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