A WOMAN whose mother-in-law died after contracting Clostridium Difficile in hospital has spoken of her anger after a report into the outbreak was delayed for a fifth time.
Michelle McGinty was speaking after it emerged a report into the C.diff outbreak at the Vale of Leven Hospital in West Dunbartonshire, which was linked to the death of 28 people, would not be published next month as planned.
Inquiry chairman Lord Ranald MacLean had been due to publish his Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry report by the end of May 2011.
The latest delay has come about after he requested an extension to the most recently proposed publication date of March 2014.
Health Secretary Alex Neil accepted the request, but no new date has been set. The reason given for the latest delay is to allow Lord MacLean time to issue warning letters to individuals or organisations likely to be the subject of criticism.
The letters provide those concerned with a chance to respond to any criticisms before Lord MacLean finalises his report.
A series of delays, including a period of illness which left Lord MacLean unable to continue his work, has frustrated the families of those who lost their lives as a result of the C.diff outbreak at the West Dunbartonshire hospital.
The inquiry investigated the treatment of 63 patients at the hospital during the period December 1, 2007 to June 1, 2008. Of those 63 people, 31 patients died and C.diff infection has been identified as cause of death or a contributory factor to death in 28 cases.
Ms McGinty, whose mother-in-law Sarah McGinty was one of those who died, has campaigned on behalf of the C.diff Families Justice Group.
She said: "It is upsetting to get the news that this inquiry will be delayed for a fifth time. Families are now going through the heartache of the sixth anniversary of their loved ones' deaths, while still receiving no answers to the public inquiry they fought so hard to get.
"It makes us even more angry that this delay doesn't even have another timeline attached. Will we ever get the answers we need to finally finish grieving?"
Julie-Anne Jamieson, secretary to the inquiry, said the process of preparing warning letters, waiting for responses and then reviewing them "is a very complex and time consuming one."
She added: "Lord MacLean fully recognises the disappointment this delay will cause to patients and relatives who are understandably anxious to hear the inquiry's findings and he is keen to publish his report as soon as possible. The warning letter process is a crucial element of the inquiry.
"The inquiry recently issued the last of its warning letters but the report cannot be finalised until all responses have been received and the chairman has considered each of these.
"The chairman wants to ensure his report is comprehensive and makes clear recommendations as a result of lessons learned from the Vale of Leven Hospital experience. An update will be provided on the reporting date once the warning letter process is complete."
Jackie Baillie MSP, who represents the Vale of Leven area, said: "The cabinet secretary needs to get a grip of this inquiry and give families a final date for the publication of the report."
A Scottish Government said: "The delay is disappointing, and will be particularly difficult for the patients and families."
He added that the Government had no power to intervene as the inquiry is "entirely independent", and it looked forward to receiving recommendations so "the Scottish Government can consider how they can assist in continuing to raise the standard of care for patients".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article