Scotland's papers: Babies die in new infection outbreak

31 January 2019

Many of Scotland's front pages lead with the deaths of two premature babies at the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital in Glasgow. The Scottish Sun says a third child is currently being treated for the staphylococcus aureus infection.

The Scottish Daily Mail claims the "extremely premature" infants contracted the blood infection while in the neonatal unit of the hospital and that an infection control team had been set up to investigate the cause of the outbreak.

The Scottish Daily Express reports that a statement from the hospital said the two who died were "extremely poorly" due to their early births, with infection being "one of a number of contributing causes in both deaths".

The Herald's lead story on the babies says that the hospital investigation was triggered on 24 January and quickly established a link between the three cases. It also says that control measures have been introduced at the unit, including a deep clean, isolation and barrier nursing.

The Daily Record calls the incident a "tragedy" reports on comments from Scottish Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs that the public will now "ask serious questions about infection control in hospitals" after "the fourth recent death under similar circumstances".

The infection story makes the front of The Times, but the lead story focuses on Brexit. The paper claims Theresa May is planning to "woo" Labour MPs into supporting her Brexit deal by promising cash for deprived areas that supported the Leave campaign.

Brexit is the main story in The National, which claims the prime minister's "backstop fantasy" brings a no-deal Brexit closer. It refers to a warning from European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker that the withdrawal agreement "will not be renegotiated".

The i claims "cracks" have appeared in the EU's Brexit stance as German and Polish politicians have called for compromise. The report claims some politicians have broken ranks to call for the EU to drop its opposition to changing the agreement.

The Scotsman looks ahead to the Scottish Budget with an exclusive story claiming Nicola Sturgeon has warned SNP parliamentarians to prepare for a possible Scottish election if the government at Holyrood fails to pass its budget. The Scottish government heads into today's vote without a deal to secure a majority.

The Press and Journal's North East edition also leads on the budget. Ahead of today's crucial vote, Aberdeen City Council's co-leader Douglas Lumsden warned "all the fat has been trimmed" and that services will be "badly affected" if the funding settlement is not reconsidered.

The Daily Telegraph leads on its own campaign calling for technology companies to have a "statutory duty of care to protect children from online harm". The paper says its campaign has backing from MPs and that the UK government is considering introducing both a duty of care and a new web regulator.

A "sickening" rape is the lead story in Thursday's Courier. The report quotes police describing the attack as a "terrifying ordeal" for the 20-year-old woman, who was assaulted in Methil on Tuesday evening.

In another front page story about "snowflakes", the Daily Star leads on calls from comedian Russell Brand to bring an end to "tickling" - particularly with regards to his own children.

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