Ministers presided over ‘culture of secrecy’ at Glasgow hospital says Tory MSP

Scottish ministers have presided over a “culture of secrecy” in relation to the deaths of cancer patients at a Glasgow hospital, Conservative health spokesman Sandesh Gulhane has said.

The Glasgow MSP described the recent admission of a “causal connection” between infections and the hospital environment as an “unforgivable cover-up” and the “most appalling and disgusting hospital scandal to engulf our health service”.

Health secretary Neil Gray said it would be “inappropriate” to comment on the matter as the issue was the subject of a live public inquiry.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde admitted in its closing submission to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry that it was “more likely than not” that some patients suffered fungal infections as a  result of the hospital environment, “in particular the water system”.

The health board had previously denied bacteria in the water at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) was the cause of infections that led to deaths.

Milly Main died at the QEUH at the age of 10 in 2017 after contracting the stenotrophomonas bacteria while receiving treatment for leukaemia.

A corporate homicide investigation into the deaths of Milly, two other children and Gail Armstrong, a 73-year-old cancer patient, was launched in 2021.

Raising the issue in the chamber, Gulhane said: “NHS Glasgow have spent years covering it up, silencing whistleblowers, gaslighting families, and betraying the trust of patients. The calculated attempts at hiding the truth have denied the victims’ families closure.”

He added that ministers had “presided over a culture of secrecy and cover up”, and called for the health board to be held to account and for anyone involved in the “cover-up” – including minsters themselves – to “face justice”.

Gray said: “Ministers take seriously all concerns relating to patient safety and patient care. That is why we established a statutory public inquiry to investigate in detail all matters relating to those cases of infection.”

However, he said it would be “inappropriate to comment further” until after the inquiry sets out its findings. He added: “It’s important we allow the public inquiry the space to consider its final conclusions, for the final report to be considered, before we determine any final considerations.”

The closing submission to the inquiry by the health board also suggested the hospital was opened too early, despite concerns over safety. “Pressure was applied to open the hospital on time and on budget, and it is now clear that the hospital opened too early. It was not ready,” it said.

QEUH was opened in April 2015, while Nicola Sturgeon was first minister, Shona Robison was health secretary and John Swinney finance secretary.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “Their fingerprints are all over this. We need to know what they knew, when they knew it, and exactly who pressured the health board to open the hospital before it was safe, causing the death of children.”

Gray reiterated that it would be inappropriate to comment given the live inquiry and investigation.