Call for urgent Holyrood statement after hospital infections admission

The Conservatives said Neil Gray must deliver “clarity and accountability on this huge and growing scandal”.

The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry has been examining the design and construction of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow 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.

READ MORE: Milly Main, 10, died after infection 'probably' linked to Glasgow hospital environment

In closing submissions to the inquiry published ahead of final oral hearings, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) said it accepts 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.”

The dramatic U-turn was hailed as a “turning point” by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who called for a corporate homicide investigation to be expanded to include politicians who he accused of a “cover-up”.

Writing in the Scottish Daily Mail, he vowed to establish Milly’s Law which he said “would create an independent public advocate with the authority to investigate incidents and establish the truth”.

He called the QEUH scandal “one of the worst failures in modern Scottish public life”.

Dr Sandesh Gulhane, the Scottish Conservative health spokesman, said: “The public deserve clarity and accountability on this huge and growing scandal.

“SNP ministers are ultimately accountable for what went on at the Queen Elizabeth and that’s why it’s imperative that Neil Gray makes an urgent statement and faces questions in parliament [on Tuesday].

“After years of cover-up, denial and the undermining of whistleblowers, the eleventh-hour admission by NHS bosses of a link between the contaminated water and infections – just as the inquiry is concluding – is cynical and shameful.

“This scandal resulted in lives being lost. Grieving families deserve answers, so the Health Secretary must come clean on what ministers knew and when.

“What we do know is that the actions of health board bosses have come straight from the SNP playbook – secrecy, cover-up and evading accountability.

“Full transparency from all involved is essential. That’s why the Scottish Conservatives are demanding an urgent statement from Neil Gray.”

READ MORE: Mother of tragic Milly Main tells of 'wave of emotions' after Scottish NHS board named as suspect

A Scottish Government spokesperson previously said: “We established a statutory public inquiry so that families 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, the Scottish Government is committed to assisting the inquiry and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this time.”

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

Patrick McGuire, a senior partner at Thompsons Solicitors Scotland, represents many of the families affected.

He said: “The families have now been vindicated, but only after years of being denigrated and dismissed by the health board. It is now of the highest priority that those who have been behind this disgraceful conduct are held to account.”

He also called for the inquiry to be extended to ensure that “nothing like this can ever happen again”.