John Swinney urged to 'do right thing' and release scandal-hit hospital minutes

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, together with his deputy, Jackie Baillie, have written to Mr Swinney and health secretary, Neil Gray, calling for the full disclosure of records, including cabinet minutes.

Mr Sarwar said he believed that ministerial conduct could have breached a criminal threshold, and should be investigated by the proper authorities.

However, Mr Gray pointed out that it was the SNP government which established the ongoing public inquiry into the hospital, to which it had provided “all relevant evidence.”

It comes as the Scottish Conservatives have called on former first minister Nicola Sturgeon to “come clean” on whether she pressured officials to open the hospital before it was ready.

The flagship QEUH is one of two hospitals at the centre of a long-running £31 million public inquiry into safety and wellbeing issues.

The inquiry, which is hearing closing submissions, was told on Tuesday by a lawyer for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) that the health board accepted there had been “significant failures,” and offered a “full and unreserved apology” for the distress and trauma experienced by patients and families.

Peter Gray KC said that whilst no “definite link” between any infection and any confirmed source of infection was ever established, experts agreed that on the balance of probabilities, there was an “infection spike apparent during the water incident.”

Read more: 'Serious failings' at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital identified in infection review

He told the inquiry: “NHSGGC accepts that there was, on the balance of probabilities, an increased risk of infection during that period, and that as acknowledged in the written submission, on the balance of probabilities, there is a causal connection between some infections suffered by patients and the hospital environment, and in particular the water system.”

The £840m QEUH campus, which includes the Royal Hospital for Children, was hailed as a world leading facility when it began operating in 2015, but the health board has since conceded that it opened too early, and was “not ready.”

A series of infection outbreaks and concerns around the water and ventilation systems began to emerge three years after the hospital opened, and a number of patients died, including 10-year-old Milly Main.

Scottish Labour pointed out that Mr Swinney was deputy first minister and finance secretary when the hospital campus opened to patients

In their joint letter, Mr Sarwar and Ms Baillie said families have been forced to fight for the truth about what happened to their children at the QEUH for “years,” with parents who should have been focused on supporting their child through cancer treatment “instead been met with denial, delay, and institutional self-protection.”

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They said that while patients were exposed to infection risks, the health board and Scottish ministers “denied, downplayed, and delayed.” Their letter added: “They did not put patient safety first. They did not put families first. They closed ranks.”

They wrote: “The failure lies with senior leadership and a culture of secrecy and poor governance - enabled by ministers who repeatedly denied the scale of the problem and dismissed legitimate concerns.

“A culture that started right from the water report warning of problems with the supply at the hospital. The public inquiry is vital and must run its course. But it cannot be used as a shield for secrecy or inaction. Families cannot be left waiting year after year while the system protects itself.

Read more: Deaths could have been avoided at Glasgow hospital if staff had flushed out the taps

“That is why we are calling on you now to finally release the ministerial communications, cabinet minutes and discussions relating to the QEUH scandal - in full.”

Mr Sarwar and Ms Baillie said the public had “a right to know what ministers knew, when they knew it, and what actions were taken,” adding: “This is about more than one hospital. It is about a culture in public bodies that too often protects the institution rather than the people it exists to serve.

“Families deserve answers. They deserve accountability. And they deserve justice. The question is simple: will you finally do the right thing and release the communications Scotland has waited too long to see?”

Health secretary Neil Gray said: “On the question of transparency, I note that the government brought forward the public inquiry so that families - some of whom I have met, and to whom I pay tribute for their work and their diligence following the trauma that they have undoubtedly experienced - can get answers to the questions that they are posing. It is because we have instigated a public inquiry that, I believe, we are getting to the truth.

“We have provided all relevant evidence to the inquiry, relating to the whole of its terms of reference. That evidence is still being considered by the inquiry, and I will not comment further until the inquiry publishes its findings.

“It is important that we allow the public inquiry the space to consider its final conclusions, so that the final report can be considered before we determine any final considerations.”

Meanwhile, Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, said Ms Sturgeon had a “duty to explain” her role in the decision for the hospital to open.

He said: “If Nicola Sturgeon leaned on NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde bosses to push this hospital over the line for political gain, that would be utterly unforgivable.

“The health board claim that pressure was applied and the hospital opened too soon. This had very grave consequences.”

He has written to the SNP MSP, urging her to disclose what she knew in order to help families understand what happened.

“The public need to know who was applying this pressure, and why the hospital was allowed to open before it was ready,” Dr Gulhane wrote. “I note that it opened during the 2015 General Election campaign.

“I appreciate your book tour keeps you away from the Scottish Parliament, but given the seriousness of this issue I hope that you will find time to give the grieving families the answers that they deserve.”

The SNP have been approached for comment.