| Ahead of a speech today to the Scottish TUC Women’s Conference at the Caird Hall, Ms Sturgeon gave her backing for the actions of NHS Tayside in dealing with the fatal outbreak.
She said she did not intend to visit the hospital today, but would make a statement to Parliament tomorrow.
“Firstly, any outbreak of C.diff is deeply regrettable, particularly when people die,” she said.
“We are making progress across Scotland in bringing C.diff rates down.”
Ms Sturgeon said that “unfortunately” there would from time to time be outbreaks like the one at Ninewells, and on these occasions the NHS Board concerned would quickly take appropriate action.
She said she had been kept informed of the situation in Tayside and that the board had “acted appropriately”. Ms Sturgeon said there had been no new cases for 10 days in Ward 31, which looks after elderly people mostly in their 80s and 90s.
“That is obviously encouraging,” she said. “They continue to monitor that very closely.”
Having ruled out a public inquiry, Ms Sturgeon said that “obviously” there would be investigations into the cause of the Ninewells outbreak.
“I certainly would want to wait and see what these investigations tell us,” she said.
Ms Sturgeon said the recently formed Healthcare Environment Inspectorate would visit Ninewells today and would be looking at the hospital’s hygiene, cleanliness and infection control procedures.
She said Ward 31 would come under particularly close scrutiny. |
