A PATIENT who raised the alarm about the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital’s pigeon problem almost a year ago spoke yesterday of his anger and dismay at managers’ failure to take action before a young boy died of a related infection.
Robert James questioned NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board about the number and related risks of pigeons at the entrance to the neurology building last February.
While going for treatment at the facility he had seen pigeon droppings and a dead bird and felt he had to cover his mouth.
He said: “I’m disgusted the hospital failed in their duty to prevent this from happening. They had plenty of warnings and there was plenty of evidence that something needed to be fixed.”
Mr James was told the health board’s pest control contractor was called in to deal with bird related issues on 12 occasions in 2017.
Measures were taken including the use of pigeon spikes to prevent the creatures roosting. It is not known how many times contractors dealt with bird-related complaints elsewhere on the sprawling site.
He was told in the response received in March 2018, that there was no record of health issues having been reported as a result of the problem. The response adds that there was no record of any specific tests having been carried out.
The health board also admitted in the response that there was no policy in place for the issue.
He said: “I hope the Government enquiry looks closely at what they claimed they would do to prevent diseases from spreading in this area.
“They had the chance to learn from their lessons when I notified them formally through my Freedom of Information request.”
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