Action threat over bug death

The outbreak struck earlier this month

The family of one of three men who died following a salmonella outbreak at a Glasgow hospital is considering whether to sue for compensation.

Rudolfo Ionta's son is also seeking a fatal accident inquiry into the deaths at the Victoria Infirmary on the city's south side.

The 74-year-old multiple sclerosis sufferer, from Glasgow, died while he was being treated for complications in his condition.

If there is negligence then we can go ahead with a claim for compensation on behalf of Rudi and his mother

Cameron Fyfe
Lawyer

He was one of three men who died following the outbreak, which also affected two other men who have since recovered.

His son Rudi, a student from Glasgow, said he was angry at how his family had been treated.

He said that the hospital had contacted him the day before his father's funeral was due to take place, asking him to return the death certificate because a post-mortem examination was to be carried out.

"By this time they had released my dad," he explained.

"The funeral directors had him in the undertaker's office. He went through his first course of embalming and he was told to stop because of the post-mortem."

Rudi Ionta has voiced his anger

Lawyer Cameron Fyfe, who is representing the family, told BBC Scotland: "The family have asked me to consider a claim for compensation.

"My plan is to write to the procurator fiscal and ask him if he would arrange a fatal accident inquiry which would investigate the whole matter and would throw light on whether there was negligence on the part of the hospital.

"If there is negligence then we can go ahead with a claim for compensation on behalf of Rudi and his mother."

Mr Fyfe said the family was also seeking an apology from the South Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust for an alleged lack of communication following the death.

However, the trust's assistant medical director, Dr David Stewart, denied that the victims' families had been kept in the dark.

'Fully disclosed'

He also said the trust was "very happy" to meet them to discuss issues surrounding the deaths.

"The families were spoken to by the ward staff and we have been quite open about this," he said.

"We have made no attempt to conceal from the families that salmonella was an issue. That has been fully disclosed to them."

Malcolm Chisholm: "Deeply upset"

Five people were affected by the outbreak which struck the hospital on the south side of Glasgow on 2 January.

The NHS trust believes that the bug was brought into the hospital by a patient who was later discharged.

Dr Stewart said he was confident the infection had been brought under control.

"We believe our hygiene control is good, but we are reinforcing the need to maintain scrupulous hygiene in the hospital," he said.

He also rejected suggestions that the trust had not informed the Scottish Executive of the outbreak.

Information anger

Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm, who has demanded an inquiry into the deaths, was said to be furious that he only learned of the fatalities through the media.

But Dr Stewart told BBC Scotland: "As soon as we were aware that there was a problem we reported this through to the Public Health Department as normal and it would have gone up through the normal trust reporting system.

We would share concerns that information was not being passed through as efficiently as it should have been

Deputy Health Minister Mary Mulligan

"We reported things as we would through the normal channels."

However, Deputy Health Minister Mary Mulligan replied: "We only heard about it yesterday through the executive officials. At that stage we asked for further reports on the incident.

'Advised to close'

"We will be following this up because we would share concerns that information was not being passed through as efficiently as it should have been."

Meanwhile, the hospital has been closed to all new admissions following the outbreak of a virus that causes vomiting and diarrhoea.

BBC News Online understands that 114 patients and 43 members of staff have been struck down with the Norwark virus.

An outbreak control team advised the hospital to close and will review the situation over the weekend.

It has advised the hospital not to admit any new admissions and will only deal with emergency cases.

The hospital stressed that there was no link between the two infections.