Grieving daughters of woman 'infected by pigeon droppings' call for urgent safety upgrades at £1bn hospital

By HANNAH RODGER, CHIEF REPORTER FOR THE SCOTTISH MAIL ON SUNDAY Published: 19:09, 11 April 2026 | Updated: 19:09, 11 April 2026 The grieving daughters of a woman who died after contracting a bug linked to pigeon droppings have urged the NHS to come clean on the safety of Glasgow’s superhospital. Sandie and Beth Armstrong’s mother Gail was being treated for blood cancer when she died in January 2019 at the £1 billion Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH). The 73-year-old grandmother, from Glasgow, contracted cryptococcus – a bacteria linked to pigeon faeces – while in ward 4C. Her daughters said NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde classes 4C as a general ward, meaning it has lower ventilation rates than those recommended for people with severely suppressed immune systems. The sisters fear other vulnerable patients now on general wards are not being properly protected. It comes after the Mail on Sunday revealed that NHS bosses were planning to rebuild specialist cancer ward 4B, as the ventilation system didn’t meet regulations and there had been concerns about mould, water leaks and fungal infections. Gail Armstrong with her daughters Sandie (L) and Beth (R)  The QEUH in Glasgow cost almost £1bn to build but now the NHS is suing contractors Sandie said: ‘The ward our mum was in, 4C, was a general ward when in fact it is accommodating severely immunocompromised patients.  'There are patients in there with cancer, with cystic fibrosis. All highly susceptible patients. Yet these general wards do not have the correct ventilation levels for patients with such low immune systems. ‘We know that there should be 10 air changes per hour for very vulnerable patients, but these have only four.’ She added: ‘I don’t think the people realise there are regulations for mechanically ventilated hospital buildings and the QEUH doesn’t meet them. ‘When you have no immune system that’s a serious problem, particularly if there are water leaks, or pigeons roosting.’  Beth added: ‘There are minimum guidelines for hospitals, and we expect the hospital to meet them. That’s the bottom line. You have to make the hospital compliant.’ An NHSGGC spokesman said: ‘Our sincere sympathies remain with Gail Armstrong’s family. ‘To ensure our hospitals provide a safe environment for our patients, we have put in place a robust system of maintenance, sampling and monitoring, and full governance systems are in place to review and challenge as an additional layer of assurance.’ No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.