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Scotland’s independent prosecution and deaths investigation service is currently examining seven fatalities that may be linked to the hospital environment at Glasgow’s largest medical facility. Among these cases is that of Molly Cuddihy, who died last August, a situation now being reviewed by a specialized hospital team within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). This team is also investigating the deaths of Andrew Slorance and Tony Dynes.
In addition to these recent cases, four earlier deaths, including that of 10-year-old Milly Main, are under consideration after police submitted a report to COPFS. Authorities are assessing whether the circumstances might warrant corporate homicide charges. The three latest deaths at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus remain in earlier stages of inquiry. COPFS has emphasized that investigations are thorough and independent, with families being kept informed of significant updates.
The QEUH campus, which houses the Royal Hospital for Children, is the subject of a public inquiry focused on potential issues with water and ventilation systems, thought to have contributed to infections and patient deaths. Parallel to this inquiry, COPFS is conducting a separate investigation that could lead to prosecutions against the health board managing the hospital under corporate homicide or health and safety legislation.
Among the cases being examined are those where police have submitted what is known as a “standard prosecution report,” indicating sufficient evidence to suspect criminal conduct. This applies to the deaths of Milly Main, two unnamed children, and 73-year-old Gail Armstrong. Conversely, the cases of Slorance, Dynes, and Cuddihy are still under evidence gathering, with no prosecution report yet issued. Molly Cuddihy was diagnosed with metastatic Ewing’s Sarcoma in 2018, and during her treatment at the Royal Hospital for Children, she suffered a serious hospital-acquired mycobacterium chelonae infection. The aggressive antibiotic treatment needed had severe side effects, weakening her organs and ultimately leading to her death at QEUH in August last year at the age of 23. Molly’s father, John, a former police officer, expressed that the involvement of COPFS’s hospital unit reassures him the investigation is advancing, acknowledging the personal difficulty but emphasizing the need for a full and independent inquiry into the facts.
Other tragic cases include Milly Main, who died in 2017 after contracting a stenotrophomonas maltophilia infection post-stem cell transplant, two additional children—a three-year-old and a 10-year-old boy—both associated with cryptococcus fungal infections, and Gail Armstrong, who died in 2019 from cancer complicated by cryptococcus infection believed by her family to have worsened her prognosis. More recent investigations involve Andrew Slorance, a former Scottish government official who died in December 2020 with Covid-related pneumonia and an undetected aspergillus fungal infection, and Tony Dynes, a cancer patient who died in 2021 with both aspergillus and bacterial infections similar to those found in Milly Main.
COPFS informed NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in November 2023 that it is being investigated as a suspect in relation to alleged offenses including corporate homicide and breaches of health and safety laws. Under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, prosecutions can be brought against organizations as a whole rather than individual employees. A conviction would require proving that senior management’s handling of hospital operations was a gross breach of their duty of care, falling significantly below expected standards. Penalties for such offenses may include unlimited fines, orders to implement corrective measures, or publicity orders requiring the health board to publicly acknowledge failings
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