As we head toward General Election 2019 with SNP support averaging a floor-wiping 46%, BBC Scotland, yesterday and today, headline and dramatise a single unsubstantiated case from 2017, based on the heartless exploitation of heart-broken parents by the Scottish opposition parties. Only the Scottish Conservatives have called for a resignation. BBC Scotland’s editorial team have chosen to lead on this and to construct a crisis out events which BBC England and Wales would not.
Yesterday it was NHS Scotland too, based on anecdotal evidence from a handful of traumatised women, linked to ‘ineffective treatments’ in England and with the first ‘stab’ at the Health Secretary.
You won’t see BBC Elsewhere collude in politicising the supposed failures of NHS England or Wales even when they are all-too-real as in the current crisis with A&E response times 20% worse than in Scotland and as they career toward third-world conditions this winter.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
This has now become an exercise in cruelty.
Do the BBC, Sarwar et al. have evidence that the pathogen was not introduced on the person or clothing of a visitor to a sick child?
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The organism that is quoted as the cause of the infection can be community or hospital acquired and from a variety of aqueous sources not just tap water. It is particularly dangerous in immuno-compromised patients. Some info:
“”Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (S. maltophilia) infection is a type of bacterial infection. S. maltophilia is found mostly in wet environments. In the hospital setting, S. maltophilia can be found in fluids, such as irrigation solutions (fluids used to clean a wound or wash out a body cavity like the ear canal or bladder) and intravenous (IV) fluids, as well as patient secretions, such as mucus from the respiratory tract and urine. The bacteria causes problems mainly in people who have a weakened immune system.[1][2][3] To cause infections in healthy people, S maltophilia must bypass the normal human defenses, as can happen with the use of certain medical devices, such as catheters or IV lines. People who are hospitalized and receiving treatment for other serious medical conditions may be more susceptible to an infection, especially if their immune system is weakened. Symptoms vary depending on the area of the body infected.[1][2]
Diagnosis of S. maltophilia infection, along with other bacterial infections, may be suspected by symptoms and risk factors. A culture of body fluids, such a blood, urine, sputum, or abdominal fluid, is used to confirm the specific type of bacteria. A consultation with an infectious disease specialist is important to differentiate bacterial colonization (where the bacteria are found in the body but do not cause symptoms) from an infection and to determine the best treatment options. [1][2] “”
https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/9772/stenotrophomonas-maltophilia-infection#diseaseOverviewSection
Then this:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3255966/#!po=3.35821
“”S. maltophilia is an environmental MDRO. It has been isolated
from aqueous-associated sources both inside and outside the hos-
pital/clinical setting (Table 2). S. maltophilia has been recovered
from soils and plant roots, animals (29, 30, 31, 117, 138, 140, 141,
160, 163, 233, 265), invertebrates (286), water treatment and dis-
tribution systems (142), wastewater plants (158), sinkholes (75),
lakes (279), rivers (239), biofilms on fracture surfaces in aquifers
(159), washed salads (273), hemodialysis water and dialysate sam-
ples (15), faucets, tap water, bottled water (81, 316, 345, 363, 367),
contaminated chlorhexidine-cetrimide topical antiseptic (369),
hand-washing soap (176), contact lens solutions(116), ice machines
(272), and sink drains (39). A significant feature of S. maltophilia
is its ability to adhere to plastics and form bacterial films (bio-
films). S. maltophilia has been identified on the surfaces of mate-
rials used in intravenous (i.v.) cannulae, prosthetic devices, dental
unit waterlines, and nebulizers (80, 157, 188, 200, 228, 250).
The incidence of S. maltophilia hospital-acquired infections is
increasing, particularly in the immunocompromised patient pop…””
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Legerwood,
If you can do a bit of research and produce a report like this, it is not beyond journalists to produce something similar. However, they have a political line to pursue and any truth or investigation of the story can take a back seat – or no seat at all.
It is a tragedy when a child dies. I find it difficult to imagine the sense of loss and grief and the sense of injustice, unfairness. I know what it is like to lose a parent or friends and colleagues, but in most cases the fact that the person was fairly elderly enabled me to come to terms. But a child ‘deserves’ the same three score years as the rest of us.
Here is the most modern hospital in Scotland and most of us (I wrote ‘all’ originally, but one wonders about the BBC Scotland News and Current Affairs staff and journalists in some newspapers. One feels that they must have some spark of humanity, but then we look at how News International staff dealt with the Millie Dowler case) want it to be as safe as possible. I have had to spend a day there as an in-patient!
A proper journalism and serious politicians ought to be looking constructively at the circumstances of such deaths – how did it happen? Could we have foreseen some aspects? Are our procedures suitable, etc. But, what we get is BLAMING as an end in itself, as if ‘heads rolling’ will make things better. If anything the punitive approach leads to people being unprepared to take risks – even calculated ones – it leads to people seeking to avoid responsibility, by only doing precisely what their job description says. It leads to things stagnating.
“Whistleblowing’ is important in ensuring transparency and accountability and should be encouraged. But we must not assume as might be the case here that whistleblowers always tell the truth. When the whistle has been blown an investigation should begin, during which the whistleblower has anonymity and other protections. If the whistleblower is proven to have been honest or was sincere, even if the allegation was not as severe as reported’ then the person should be protected from ‘revenge’ from those i positions of power. However, if the whistleblower has been malicios, then he or she should face disciplinary action.
This kind of journalism and politics leads to a lack of trust in politics and in institutions and damages trust amongst people. For very wealthy individuals, like President Trump, destroying such trust is exactly what they want. They want weakened institutions and they want people to be wary of each other so that the wealthy can become even more wealthy by being less constrained by law. Sadly, people who know better, such as health service trade union members and doctors’ and nurses’ associations are prepared to play this game for narrow short term gains.
This is a sad affair, because of the death of a child and the grief of her family, but it also leaves a bad taste because the family are being exploited for other petty gains. The parents deserve as full an explanation of the circumstances of their daughter’s death as is possible to be provided.
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The unionist press, such as the Herrod, are plugging this line.
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And here is a result of your efforts, Mr Sarwar and your media friends (from The Herald):
” “I was getting to a point in life where I was able to face each day. It’s taken me back to when Milly died. It’s just opened it all up again.
The 35-year-old said she burst into tears when she read this week’s coverage of her daughter’s death.”
Hope you are all happy now!
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I was about to ‘like’ that. Exploitation. I’ll try to source that and tweet it more widely.
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The BBC seems to be doubling down on this story today – tabloid journalism of the worst kind.
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