Bereaved mother accuses ministers of adding to pain over scandal-hit hospital revelation
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called the evidence ‘damning’
The mother of a 10-year-old girl who was killed by a hospital infection has accused SNP ministers of having “added to our pain and anguish” after an official meeting note revealed political pressure was being felt to open the facility before it was ready.
Kimberly Darroch, the mother of Milly Main, has warned that “we were lied to” after First Minister John Swinney and former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who was in charge when the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) opened, insisted last week that no political pressure was put on health bosses to open the facility too early.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who unveiled the “damning” evidence at First Minister’s Questions, said it showed politics was put before patient safety, leading to a “decade of lies, deceit and cover up”.
It comes amid a long-running inquiry into the design and construction of the QEUH complex in Glasgow following deaths linked to infections, with a report due later this year.
Police are investigating the deaths of three children and three adults, including that of 10-year-old Milly Main in 2017.
In a closing submission to the inquiry last week, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) admitted for the first time it was “more likely than not” contaminated water caused serious infections in patients at the hospital, which opened shortly before the 2015 general election.
It also said pressure had been applied for the hospital to open on time, but it was “not ready”.
Both Mr Swinney and Ms Sturgeon have denied applying pressure. In a statement issued on Saturday, the health board said it “came from within”.
However, Mr Sarwar highlighted meeting notes from December 2019 and January 2020 which were included in evidence submitted to the inquiry, and which make clear political pressure was felt.
Speaking during First Minister’s Questions in Holyrood, he said: “I have here in my hand official Scottish government meeting notes. These notes, written by a Scottish government official, relate to a series of meetings held on December 16, 2019, December 19, 2019 and January 10, 2020.
“Those meetings involved a Scottish government official appointed by the then Health Secretary, the health board’s director of facilities, and a consultant who had been engaged by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to review what went wrong.
“It states in its findings in black and white, ‘political pressure was also being felt and no consideration was given to delaying the opening of the hospital despite the issues being faced with completion and operation’.”
The minutes show consultant Jim Leiper, who worked in the NHS for 38 years and ended his career as strategic director of facilities at National Services Scotland, and Tom Steele, who is the director of estates and facilities at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, advising “lessons could be learned from the building”.
There is no further detail on where the “political pressure” came from.
Mr Sarwar added: “Will John Swinney now tell parliament why political pressure was being applied to open a hospital that this note also makes clear wasn’t ready and led to people dying? Or would he rather answer in the presence of his lawyer?”
Mr Swinney said there is an inquiry under way “which is exploring all of these issues”.
He said: “The counsel to the inquiry said on the 23rd of January, in the summary, there is no evidence of external pressure on NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to open the hospital early or before it was ready to be opened.
“That is what the counsel to the inquiry has said and [inquiry chairman] Lord Brodie is obviously considering all of these issues.”
Mr Sarwar said the First Minister had been “found out” and described the minute as “damning”.
He added: “That decision to open the hospital early has resulted in a decade of lies, deceit and cover up, bullying and gaslighting of staff, families being lied to and denied the truth, and infections that led to the deaths of children and possibly adults too.
“All because politics was put before patient safety. This evidence is damning. People died. So I ask John Swinney, was it worth it?”
Mr Swinney said the Scottish government was first made aware of water contamination issues at the hospital in 2018. He said the government had commissioned the inquiry to allow all of the relevant issues to be “explored in full”.
Following the revelation, Ms Darroch said it “confirms what we feared” as she vowed to continue seeking the truth for Milly.
She added: “We thought that political pressure was applied to open the hospital before it was ready, and now we know the truth – that’s exactly what happened.
“The denials about this in recent days have added to our pain and anguish – we were lied to, and this proves it.
“It’s heartbreaking that government ministers are still trying to cover their tracks rather than give us the answers we deserve.
“We are edging closer to the truth, but we still don’t have the full story. Milly would not want me to give up until the truth was uncovered and I will not.”
Asked by journalists after First Minister’s Questions if the document was proof that the Scottish Government pressured health chiefs to open the QEUH too early, Mr Swinney said: “No.”
He said: “That document is with the inquiry and its been considered by the inquiry and the council to the inquiry said on Friday that there is no evidence of external pressure on NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
“When you set up a public inquiry you give it all the information, you allow that inquiry to judge, and I’ve got every confidence in Lord Brodie judging on these issues.”
He added: “This is not a revelation, this is in front of the inquiry, this is documents the inquiry has had, then I think it’s important we listen to the inquiry.”
Asked if he was saying the document was wrong, Mr Swinney said : “I’m simply relying on the proceedings of the independent judge-led public inquiry that is looking at all of these issues.”
A spokesperson for the First Minister said he did not know when the government was first made aware of the document raised by Mr Sarwar. He added that it was “still our position” that no political pressure was applied to health chiefs.
The inquiry has been examining the design and construction of the QEUH and the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC), which are on the same campus. It was launched in 2020 in the wake of deaths linked to infections, including that of Milly Main in 2017.
Mr Sarwar has been calling for inquiry chairman Lord Brodie to consider the actions of the Scottish government in the commissioning, construction and opening of the QEUH.
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