Focus: Infection Control

Deaths could have been avoided at Glasgow hospital if staff had flushed out the taps, expert says

Nobody knew whose job it was to ensure taps, baths and shower heads were flushed at least once a day


An experts is saying that deaths could have been prevented at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital if staff had flushed out the taps, according to an article on the Scotsman website. 

Nobody knew whose job it was to ensure taps, baths and shower heads were flushed at least once a day, the article said.

The failures were “either total incompetence or dereliction of duty”, according to Professor Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen.

He said: “Health professionals have known for many years that these very basic practices can and do prevent infection.

Read the article.



December 30, 2019


Topic Area: Infection Control


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