Grieving mum Theresa Smith told an inquiry into her newborn’s death that she has endured ‘eight years of absolute hell’ knowing her baby turned ‘coal black’ from an infection caused by an ‘absolutely putrid hospital’
A grieving mum has spoken of her torment after her newborn baby died from an infection in what she described as an “absolutely putrid hospital”.
Sophia Smith was just 11 days old when she died at the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus in Glasgow on April 11, 2017. Her mother, Theresa Smith, told an inquiry she has endured “eight years of absolute hell” knowing her baby turned “coal black” from the infection caused by an “absolutely putrid hospital”.
The tot developed an infection similar to MRSA and died from sepsis. She was born at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, Renfrewshire, before being transferred to the RHC after experiencing breathing problems and a potential heart issue. Sophia was then put into an incubator and given one-on-one nursing care with a “raft of machinery”.
At first there was a “massive improvement” in her health, but on April 10, the tot suddenly deteriorated.
The inquiry heard her lower body turned “coal black”, she suffered “massive” bleeding on her lung, and died that night. She was found to have tested positive for staphylococcus aureus (SA), later confirmed as PVL-MSSA – which can trigger serious infections if it gets into the body, such as through medical lines and catheters.
Giving evidence, Theresa Smith said: “She’s dead. I live every day of my life knowing she’s dead, knowing that absolutely putrid hospital caused an infection in my child and killed her. And when it killed her it killed me too. I want to know what happened.”
Her husband, Matthew, claimed they were often left in the dark when trying to seek answers after Sophia’s death. “Stonewalling, the missing of documents when requested, the fight to have meetings arranged. It’s having to be the ones who are pushing it forward for more information,” Mr Smith said.
They said staff told them they “didn’t know where she got the infection from”, and that “Dr (Jonathan) Coutts said he had never seen it before, and when pressed he said it was just bad luck.”
No issues concerning infections were flagged during an inspection of the hospital the year prior, although the NICU was not included in the inspection. A further inspection in January 2019, which did look at the NICU, did not focus on insertable lines.
In 2021, the Health and Safety Investigations Unit found “no evidence” Sophia’s infection was linked to those other infections.
The inquiry continues.