Stress of battle to show NHS failings noticed whistleblower handled for coronary heart situation… at SAME hospital she raised fears over

A brave whistleblower who helped to expose the infections scandal at Scotland’s £1 billion superhospital last night revealed that the toll her six-year battle for the truth took on her saw her rushed to the same hospital with a stress-related heart condition.

Dr Penelope Redding, one of three female medics who tried dozens of times to raise their concerns about the water and ventilation systems at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow, told how her family begged her to give up the fight for the sake of her health – but she battled on regardless.

During her struggle to highlight concerns about the hospital, Dr Redding – who was employed as a consultant microbiologist and infection control medic – was admitted to the QEUH coronary care unit with stress-related heart problems.

She told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I was trying repeatedly to get my voice heard and the stress of it was making me ill.

‘It is surreal that I ended up being treated for a stress-related heart condition in the very hospital where the management wouldn’t listen to the risks the whistleblowers were raising about immunocompromised patients there.

‘After that I said I would stop [my involvement], but I realised that it was more stressful to give up than to play a part in pushing for the issues to be understood, accepted and resolved.

‘I found the stories from the patients and families very compelling, and I couldn’t abandon them.’

The 75-year-old said her retirement has been ‘dominated’ by the scandal and subsequent Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, which has lessened the time she has had to spend with her family – particularly her grandchildren.

She said: ‘My ability to live the retirement I had hoped for has been curtailed. It’s emotionally draining to be reminded again and again of all the things that have happened. However, the patients and families have been through much more than me.’

Her colleague and fellow whistleblower Dr Christine Peters also revealed the terrible toll the battle to raise concerns with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) has taken on her life.

Dr Peters, who still works at the hospital, said: ‘There was just a culture of bullying. I was shouted at, I was told I was ‘‘head of nothing’’ when I had introduced myself at a meeting as head of the department for microbiology at the QEUH.

‘I was sidelined, made to feel as though I was “bonkers” because I was experiencing mental health difficulties, as a result of the stress of trying to deal with whistleblowing and raising concerns.’

But the doctor said her stress over the past decade is nothing in comparison to what families have endured. She added: ‘My own suffering in this can’t be compared to what they have gone through, but I find it hugely distressing to think that some of their suffering was avoidable.

‘I’ve not fully considered the negative impact the last ten years have had on my life, but the hardest thing is when I allow myself to think about the impact on my family, especially my children.

‘I’ve found the attitude of NHSGGC regarding mental illness to be particularly disturbing, but consistent with a stigmatisation of staff who are open about their mental health when they’re put through ill treatment. It’s unacceptable.’ Dr Peters, Dr Redding and Dr Teresa Inkster, all microbiologists who worked as infection control doctors, have been lauded for their role in speaking up about the hospital’s ventilation and water systems presenting a risk to sick patients. They raised the alarm dozens of times, to various levels of management, but each time were painted as troublemakers.

Their fears were tragically confirmed when patients, mainly those being treated for cancer, started contracting rare infections. Some, including schoolgirl Milly Main, grandmother Gayle Armstrong and Scottish government adviser Andrew Slorance, died. Dr Peters and her colleagues were bullied, belittled and dismissed for years for daring to flag concerns about what they, now justifiably, believed were catastrophic safety failures at the heart of Scotland’s largest ever hospital building project.

But as revealed by The Scottish Mail on Sunday, last week NHSGGC, via their lawyers, admitted the trio had been failed as whistleblowers and gave them an unreserved apology.

It came just months after NHSGGC’s former medical director Jennifer Armstrong claimed the women had been more focused on ‘proving themselves right’ than on the patients.

Dr Peters said the entire process had been ‘deeply damaging’ and she still feels as though she is being victimised in her job today.

The 51-year-old from Glasgow said: ‘I do not have any confidence whatsoever that there is any change in culture. I hear a lot of claims being made about change.

‘Unfortunately I’ve heard this many times over the last decade –always implying the past is over, moving forward, all is well. This hasn’t been borne out so far.

‘For true change there must be rigorous scrutiny, by external bodies, to make sure recommendations made by the inquiry are followed through and to make sure that other people who could find themselves in a situation like mine are listened to and taken seriously in future.’

For Dr Peters, the health board’s apology has been no comfort, but she said: ‘It has brought a degree of relief, that these unfounded claims have been completely withdrawn but I haven’t received that apology directly − only via the conduit of the inquiry. To have horrendous accusations made about me at a high-profile public inquiry… it felt like a trial of me personally when all I had done was my job. I raised correct patient safety concerns.

‘There’s been no explanation of why I was treated in such an unfair and demeaning way in public by numerous levels of line management, sanctioned at board level, for years and until the present day.’

When Dr Redding first started highlighting concerns about the water and ventilation systems at the QEUH, she was asked by one boss if she really ‘wanted to end [her] career like this’.

She retired in 2018, but continued to be a whistleblower even after she stopped working for the health board. She said she wanted to believe the apology from NHSGGC but said there was still a risk to patients if the culture at the health board didn’t change.

The same point was raised on behalf of all three whistleblowers by their lawyer, Helen Watts, KC, at the public inquiry last week.

Dr Redding said: ‘Patient safety is at risk if there isn’t a culture which supports staff raising concerns. Staff still have a fear of speaking out, and that’ll be a huge challenge to overcome.

‘It has always been the case but many feel even more concerned now, having witnessed how me and my colleagues were treated.’

The Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, which has been supporting the whistleblowers, said: ‘They spoke up about their grave concerns for patients’ safety using a ‘‘whistleblowing’’ system they believed would take them seriously.

‘Instead, that system turned on them and made wholly false allegations about their professionalism that have caused lasting damage to their previously unblemished careers. It is a matter of deep regret that it has taken so long to reach this position.

‘Regrettably, the three doctors remain profoundly concerned about the organisational culture within the senior infection prevention control team at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

‘As our senior counsel Helen Watts, KC, submitted to the inquiry, they do not have confidence that the necessary lessons have actually been learned to ensure that patient safety is better protected in the future.’