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19 Sep 2012
NHS boards across Scotland have had to pay out more than £660k to families of people who have died after contracting superbugs in hospital.
The Scottish Government said it did not know what the total compensation bill was, but had been advised of this figure by NHS National Services Scotland.
The information emerged following a question by Scottish Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon, who is calling for more accountability in hospitals in relation to infections like C.diff and MRSA.
The SNP also said in answer to the Highlands and Islands MSP that disciplinary action against staff for failing to comply with hygiene measures was for individual health boards.
Scottish Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon said:
“Money spent compensating families following the death of a loved one would have been much better spent preventing it happening in the first place.
“I find it concerning that the Scottish Government doesn’t even seem to know how much the total bill for this is.
“Accountability has to be a priority in reducing HAIs in hospitals.
“If a rail engineer fails to fix the breaks on a train, then that train crashes and people die, the engineer is held responsible.
“There is no difference between that and hospital staff who fail to comply with infection control procedures and standards that result in death.
“I will now be contacting all Scottish health boards to find out the true extent of both these matters.”
