Former Scottish ministers should be investigated over hospital failures, says Anas Sarwar

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) accepted last week there had been a “causal connection” between the state of the buildings on the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus which led to infections and contributed to deaths.

But speaking to journalists on Monday, Anas Sarwar called for a criminal investigation into the senior managers at the board, as well as former government ministers, including Nicola Sturgeon. Ms Sturgeon was health secretary when the hospital was commissioned and had become first minister by the time it opened.

A key report on the state of water at the hospital, completed one week before it was due to open, suggested that infections could be caused by the water system on the campus, but the decision was made to open regardless.

Read more: Call for urgent Holyrood statement after hospital infections admission

Mr Sarwar said “many ministers within the government” - excluding former health secretary Jeane Freeman , he stressed - including Ms Sturgeon, “lied” about the issue.

He said: “I think that this is the biggest scandal in the history of the Scottish Parliament . I think it is criminal and I think not just the former chief executives, former chairs and key managers at the health board and the hospital at the time, but I also think senior ministers at the time, need to be investigated so we can get to the truth about why this cover-up happened, who was part of the cover-up and they should face the full consequences of that cover-up in a criminal investigation.

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“We've got to make it really clear that we're not going to accept this and it can never, ever, happen again in public life, or indeed in the private sector to be honest, in Scotland ever again.”

Speaking to the Press Association , Mr Sarwar said he was “not willing to believe” that the water report was not seen by someone in a senior position before the opening of the hospital.

Read more: Doctor told to 'pipe down' over infection concerns at major Scottish hospital

“There must have been someone senior enough that saw that and made decisions to plough on ahead with devastating consequences,” he added.

The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry has been examining the design and construction of the QEUH and the Royal Hospital for Children , which are on the same campus. It was launched in the wake of deaths linked to infections, including 10-year-old Milly Main , who was being treated for leukaemia.

In closing submissions to the inquiry published ahead of final oral hearings, NHSGGC said it acceptED that it is “more likely than not that a material proportion of the additional environmentally relevant blood stream infections (BSI) in the paediatric haemato-oncology population between 2016 and 2018 had a connection to the state of the hospital water system.”

It added: “NHSGGC accepts that, on the balance of probabilities, there is a causal connection between some infections suffered by patients and the hospital environment, in particular the water system. NHSGGC departs from its earlier submissions in this regard, having heard all expert evidence.”

A spokeswoman for NHSGGC said: “We remain fully committed to supporting the inquiry in its investigations.”

Ms Sturgeon was contacted for comment.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Our sympathies remain with all families who are grieving the loss of a loved one. We established a statutory public inquiry so all those impacted could get answers to their questions, and so that lessons can be learned for future hospital projects.

“As an independent core participant of the Inquiry, we are committed to assisting the Inquiry and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment any further.

“A separate Crown investigation looked into a number of tragic deaths linked to cases of infection at the QEUH. This investigation is on-going; it would be inappropriate to comment further. Any potential charges are a matter for the Crown Office.”