Reports today suggest that there have been two further deaths from a hospital acquired infection at the Royal Hospital got Children. We are publishing the statement that we have previously issued confirming this not to be the case.
STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO MEDIA REPORTS
Our sympathies go to the families who have been affected by the heartbreak of losing a child and we are absolutely committed to supporting families who have faced such a tragedy.
As part of our infection control governance processes we update the Board on our performance against Healthcare Associated Infection standards. We publish information on all Amber and Red HIIATs every two months.
In the most recent Board paper, we reported on an investigation into a single case of Serratia in a child which had been assessed by an Incident Management Team at Amber. Investigation into the other two cases, which were unrelated to the case of Serratia, was assessed as Green on the opinion of the clinical team. The team determined that one infection was community acquired and that the cause of death in the second case was unrelated to the infection.
We are fully committed to acting and responding compassionately and sensitively to the needs of all families. In response to the wishes of the family that their privacy is respected, we will not provide any further details on the Serratia case.