Neil Gray reveals results of water and ventilation investigations at scandal-hit QEUH
SNP ministers have revealed that assessments of the water and ventilation systems as the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital have been carried out amid safety concerns.
Health Secretary Neil Gray has confirmed health bosses have received “positive” assessments of the water and ventilation systems at Glasgow’s superhospital at the centre of a fatal infections scandal.
Mr Gray confirmed NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) has commissioned and received independent reports on the water and ventilation systems, at the centre of infections that led to deaths at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH).
It is not known whether the documents will be made public, but Mr Gray confirmed the reports have been “positive”, and will be considered by a new oversight board he established last week.
The attempted assurance comes after it was revealed that the QEUH has not been fully validated. In his closing statements to the probe examining the failings at the hospital, inquiry counsel, Ken Mackintosh, warned that a lack of a full validation was “most concerning”.
Ventilation rates at the hospital, which were operating at around 2.5 to 3 air changes per hour - are well below Scottish healthcare’s recommended levels for vulnerable patients.
Speaking at Holyrood, Mr Gray said: “I can confirm that the board has commissioned and received two independent reports on their water and ventilation systems to provide further assurances.
“These will be considered by the safety and public confidence oversight group in addition to pro-active planned maintenance of the hospital systems, which is carried out routinely.”
He added: “The findings of the independent reports on the water and ventilation systems have been positive, with a fully compliant ventilation assessment in December 2025 and a fully compliant water system assessment in January of this year.”
The health secretary accused Labour of attempting to “undermine” public confidence by raising fears about the current safety of the hospital.
Mr Gray said he “fully understands” why questions have been raised over the lack of a full validation for the QEUH, but stressed that “assurance of safety is not just based on one single metric”.
He added: “The evidence all points to the safety of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
“We know that the inquiry has heard evidence around the air systems and standards set when the hospital first opened.
“The government has been assured by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde that those systems have since had further works done or have a multi-disciplinary derogation in place.
“All air systems are subject to a full, annual validation process, carried out by authorised persons and by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s authorising engineer.”
Mr Gray told MSPs that he has “absolute confidence in the leadership of the board” at NHSGGC, which he argued will “ensure the cultural change that is needed in Glasgow”.
He added that evidence provided to the inquiry examining what went wrong and led to the fatal infections shows “water system management is now extremely well managed” and that “significant improvements (have been) made”.
Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, pledged that he will “always put patient safety before politics”, adding that he “wished that was the case with this SNP government”.
He called on the Scottish Government to “rebuild public confidence” and demanded "transparency and answers now”.
Mr Sarwar said: “I make a firm commitment that I will ensure that the hospital is verified and validated – every unit and every ward so we can guarantee patient safety.
“And if that means that remedial work has to be done, I will make sure it happens, and if it means that some words have to temporarily close, that's what I'll do.”
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