Safety probe launched at Scots super hospital offices after surgeon severs hand tendon

Staff insiders have spoken about the door "exploding" in the surgeon's hand and that he was expected to be off for six to eight weeks.

It is the latest in a series of problems that have beset the £842 million hospital since opening in April.

The Health and Safety Executive have been notified of the incident and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are carrying out an investigation in conjunction with both the door manufacturer and the installation contractor.

One staff insider said there were worries that the accident could destroy the surgeon's career.

Matt McLaughlin, regional organiser for Unison said: "Unison shares the concern of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde on this issue of safety.

"We have been working very closely with the employers to help them produce a list of identified design and installation concerns.

"We would hope that this particular incident would be treated very seriously and that any glass produced from the same batch at manufacturing will be recalled and tested."

An NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that within the administration building a member of staff sustained an injury to his hand as a result of a sliding door breaking when it was being closed.

"An immediate assessment of all similar internal doors in the admin building, which is not accessible to patients, is being carried out with both the manufacturer and installation contractor consulted.

"All doors are currently in the open position until the investigation is complete."

The accident which happened three weeks ago comes as union officials work with NHS managers to overcome any teething problems with the hospital.

One union official said: "Any new building, the board would say, has teething issues and we would support that view to a point.

I know with the best will in the world, no job is ever perfect.

"We obviously have some concerns about design faults and any changes that might be needed around some of the systems issues that have been put in place well intended, but now in the process of the hospital being open six weeks they should be reviewed, tweaked and made more practical if required.

"In terms of the glass door, these things should be of a specific tolerance and robustness and clearly this one for whatever reason wasn't. The board need to look into that with the contractor as to why and if there is any concern at all that other glass doors or frontages around the building are faulty then of course that needs to be rectified immediately.

"But glass is a very difficult product to test. The way it is made is it is made up to a specific tolerance. All it takes is a slight difference in the cooking or material and you have a fault.

"It is potentially a very costly failing for the NHS and the individual's career, it could potentially destroy the surgeon's career.

"The union is working with the employer over design faults, building faults or systems faults and working out way to fix then. We are trying to do it in a collaborative way rather than in a 1970s style everybody out this isn't safe environment.

In June, the hospital was put on emergency support when it emerged it was the worst-performing for patient and waiting times in A&E.

And the following month it emerged cancer patients were being moved back to the Beatson unit from the hospital after a problem with air quality.

Staff have even complained about name change, from the South Glasgow University Hospital to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

In July, it also emerged an air conditioning failure in the admin block left office staff baking in what was described as "intolerable" heat.

The board said the heating system in the admin block went down after a power outage and that the area being worked on – to create new “pods” – was sealed off to prevent dust spreading. The air-con failed on July 7 and was back up and running two days later.