Staff at a children’s oncology ward were forced into self-isolation after flouting Covid rules at a colleague’s retirement do.
Insiders at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital claimed more than 40 people met for a celebration in a pub in Glasgow’s Maryhill.
Strict regulations in Level Two areas, including the city, state no more than six people from three households are permitted to meet indoors.
A source said the staff all worked on the oncology ward in the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow – the same ward mired in controversy over the contaminated water scandal.
Up to 84 very poorly children became infected and there are several deaths linked to the issue – including that of Milly Main, who died during the very early phase of a stem cell transplant from a bacterial infection in 2017.
Her parents did not learn of the link to the contamination until two years later.
The insider said: “After the water and ventilation scandal at Royal Hospital for Children, I feel it only right to inform the public that nurses from the same ward where several children died due to infections possibly caused by the hospital’s water and ventilation system attended a retirement party on Saturday, June 26, in Maryhill.”
She claimed several ward managers and nurses contracted Covid – although Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board suggest there were only a handful of people affected, with the majority not infected but self-isolating because of close contact.
She added: “There were at least two positive cases I know of and more than 10 isolated, including management and doctors.
“There were others there who were told not to isolate for some unknown reason and still worked on the ward.
“But it’s not about the numbers, it’s about the fact that they all attended a large gathering in a pub in the first place whilst working on a children’s oncology ward during a pandemic and the children and their parents have no knowledge of the risks the staff took with their children’s lives.”
A spokesman from the health board said: “Across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, we provide regular reminders to staff of the importance in following the current COVID-19 guidelines both in and out of work.
“We can confirm at no point were any patients put at risk due to staff testing positive or having to
self-isolate in relation to the event referenced.
“There was no impact on the service and affected staff have all since returned to work.”
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