Hospital deaths branded 'the biggest scandal in the history of Holyrood'

The First Minister was grilled on the scandal at the Glasgow super-hospital, which has been branded "the biggest scandal in the history of this parliament".

First Minister answered questions from both Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar at first minister’s questions on Thursday.

Mr Swinney repeatedly said the government was taking the issue seriously as it established the ongoing Scottish hospitals inquiry. However he denied there had been pressure from SNP ministers to open the hospital early.

Earlier this week NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde admitted there was a link between contaminated water and infections in child cancer patients - multiple children died from their infections.

The health board also admitted to the Scottish hospitals inquiry that the hospital opened too early despite safety concerns.

Mr Findlay said: “We were all lied to, all disbelieved, demeaned and smeared. We have had families devastated and lives traumatised.

“We cannot overstate the level of deceit and conniving cowardice of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. These families quite rightly expect accountability and a reckoning of the board’s leadership.”

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Mr Sarwar said: “I first raised this case seven years ago when parents came to me with devastating evidence that children died due to infections but parents had never been told the true cause about their deaths.

“One parent was Kimberly Darroch, the mother of Millie Main who was in remission but died after contracting an infection in the water. Millie was forced to fight cancer and an unseen danger inside the hospital walls but every step of the way the health board and countless SNP ministers closed ranks and denied there was a problem.

“People have died and their families deserve the truth. A hospital opened too soon with contaminated water which led to deaths and the health board says pressure was applied to open it before it was safe.

“For the third time, tell the truth - the health secretary at the time is sitting right next to the First Minister, he was the deputy first minister, tell the truth, who applied the pressure and why?”

Mr Swinney acknowledged the mistakes should not have happened in the first place, but adds it is important the issues are now fully investigated by a public inquiry.

Earlier this week Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and his deputy Dame Jackie Baillie MSP wrote to the First Minister and Health Secretary Neil Gray calling for the full disclosure of records relating to the hospitals scandal, including cabinet minutes.

Mr Sarwar believes that ministerial conduct could have breached a criminal threshold and should therefore be investigated by the proper authorities.

This comes after the party demanded Mr Swinney and former first minister Nicola Sturgeon reveal exactly what they knew and when about the problems at the super-hospital.

Ms Baillie said: “I want to remind the chamber that when the hospital opened in 2015, Nicola Sturgeon was First Minister, Shona Robison was health secretary and John Swinney was finance minister.

“Their fingerprints are all over this and we need to know what they knew and when they knew, and exactly who pressured the health board to open the hospital before it was safe, causing the deaths of children.”

The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Children opened in April 2015, costing £840 million.

In March 2018 it emerged that three children were being treated for infections that may be linked to contaminated water. A few months later in September 2018, child cancer patients at the Royal Hospital for Children were moved from two wards due to the water supply issue.

The health board told the hospitals inquiry that infection rates fell after remedial works, including changes to the water system, were carried out in 2018.

Earlier this week, Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP said whistleblowers had told him there are still ongoing water supply issues at the super-hospital, including taps being out-of-order on a monthly basis and dishwashers being unusable for long periods of time.

The Scottish Government launched the hospitals inquiry in September 2019into the two Glasgow hospitals, and into the new children’s hospital in Edinburgh.

In March 2021 an independent review found 84 children were infected with rare bacteria while undergoing treatment at the hospital and at least two deaths were in part as a result of the infections.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde was named as a suspect in a corporate homicide investigation following the deaths of three children and 73-year-old Gail Armstrong, who died after contracting a fungal infection linked to pigeon droppings.

One of the children in this case is 10-year-old Milly Main, who died in August 2017 when a line delivering medicine to her became infected with stenotrophomonas bacteria.

Her mother Kimberly Darroch has repeatedly said she has been lied to by officials and sees her daughter’s death as “murder”.

After the health board admitted a link between infections and contaminated water, Ms Darroch said it was “good news”, but “highlights how hard families have had to fight just to have the truth recognised”.

Scottish Labour is due to hold a press conference on this scandal with some of the families affected in Edinburgh on Friday lunchtime.