'Shameful' SNP under pressure to reassure patients QEUH has been validated for safety
Questions have been raised over whether the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow is safe for patients
SNP Health Secretary Neil Gray has been branded “shameful” after failing to give assurances the £842 million Glasgow superhospital at the centre of an infection deaths inquiry has been entirely validated to meet safety standards.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has also suggested that the public inquiry, which finished evidence sessions two weeks ago, should re-open to hear testimony from SNP politicians.
Calls have been made for politicians including Nicola Sturgeon, who was first minister when the hospital opened and the scandal came to light, alongside then health secretary Shona Robison and John Swinney to give evidence to the inquiry over what they knew about the fatal infections at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) and the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), on the same site in Glasgow.
Mr Sarwar has turned his fire on Mr Gray, who last week was unable to give assurances that the hospital had been completely validated by independent experts. There was a failure to validate the hospital before its ill-fated opening in 2015. NHS Great Glasgow and Clyde has also been unable to confirm whether the hospital has been validated, when asked by The Scotsman.
After being repeatedly asked by Mr Sarwar and several other Scottish Labour MSPs, Mr Gray suggested that the current safety of the hospital was “a matter for the inquiry to determine” before eventually stating he has “no doubt that the hospital is safe”.
He added: “The Government has also sought assurance from Healthcare Improvement Scotland as to the current safety of the hospital, and it has set out its consideration of the current safety of the hospital, which gives us assurance as to its safety.”
Mr Sarwar told The Scotsman that Mr Gray’s inability to deem whether the hospital has been validated was “nothing short of disgraceful and shameful”.
He added: “It demonstrates that he’s not up to the job of being Health Secretary of this country.
“This SNP think it’s more important to protect themselves than to protect patients.”
Dr Christine Peters, a consultant microbiologist at the QEUH who was an infection control doctor when the facility opened, warned last month that we “don’t have the evidence that satisfies me” that the building is safe.
She added: "I think in terms of specific details, I don't have details to say one way or the other and after 10 years that is not acceptable."
Mr Sarwar said that if Dr Peters and her fellow whistleblowers are “not satisfied” with the safety of the building, then “no-one in the public should be satisfied”.
He added: “We deserve to have basic answers and it’s disgraceful to try and hide behind the inquiry on this.
“Patients and staff have a right to know whether that hospital has been validated, has every ward and every unit been validated.
“Has there been independent oversight? These are really basic questions that a health secretary in charge of a super hospital should be able to answer. The fact that he can’t or won’t shows that he’s not up to the job.”
The inquiry, being chaired by Lord Brodie, has confirmed it has asked NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to provide evidence over its admission in closing evidence sessions that political pressure was applied for the QEUH to open in 2015 before it was ready.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry said: “The inquiry has written to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde asking it explain further a statement that was included in its closing submission.
“The inquiry has asked for reference to documentary evidence and other evidence on which the statement was based.”
A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “We want to reassure patients and families that the QEUH and RHC are safe today. This is highlighted by evidence given by the independent expert Andrew Poplett to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry.
“Comprehensive steps have been taken to address past physical defects in the building, and a significant and ongoing programme of maintenance and monitoring is in place. Our staff are committed to providing safe, high-quality care.”
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