Explosive new documents have revealed that the Scottish Government received fourteen serious infection outbreak warnings during the first three years of operation at Scotland's flagship £1 billion superhospital but failed to take meaningful action. The critical red and amber health alerts were issued between 2015 and 2018 by NHS board chiefs as infected patients, including children and adults, lay dying or desperately ill at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus in Glasgow.
Government Knowledge Contradicts Official Timeline
The disclosure directly contradicts First Minister John Swinney's repeated claims that his government only became aware of infection issues at the hospital in March 2018. According to official infection control protocols, the Scottish Government's health and social care department must be notified of all red and amber incidents through the Healthcare Infection Incident Assessment Tool system to provide assurance that all incidents are being effectively assessed.
This revelation comes just days after Mr Swinney faced accusations of misleading the Scottish Parliament and fabricating information when questioned over claims that political pressure led to the premature opening of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital before it was fully ready for patients.
Pattern of Denial and Deception Exposed
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar stated unequivocally that if the Scottish Government received fourteen red or amber HIIAT infection alerts between 2015 and 2018, many involving immunocompromised patients, then ministerial claims about when they became aware of serious problems represent another proven falsehood from the SNP administration.
"These warnings exist precisely because lives are at risk," Mr Sarwar emphasised. "This revelation makes clear that the Scottish Government were made aware of concerns at the QEUH long before they claimed, despite that they failed to act and continued to lie to patients and families."
The Labour leader described a disturbing pattern of denial, deception and cover-up at the very heart of government that has moved beyond normal political scandal to become what he characterised as an inhumane disregard for patients, their families, and the memories of victims.
Detailed Timeline of Infection Incidents
The documents reveal a consistent pattern of serious infection incidents that should have triggered government intervention:
- In October 2015, two red reports were issued including one for an outbreak of Serratia marcescens bacteria affecting thirteen babies in the paediatric intensive care unit
- During 2016, three amber reports were filed for the Royal Hospital for Children and one for the QEUH, including an outbreak of aspergillus mould in two children on the cancer ward
- In 2017, three red reports were issued about incidents in the children's hospital and one in the QEUH, plus two amber alerts
- A March 2017 report documented increased fungal infections on ward 2A, the specialist ward for child cancer patients
- In July 2017, two patients contracted Stenotrophomonas maltophilia bacteria in the child cancer unit, including ten-year-old Milly Main who died following the infection
- On March 3, 2018, a red report was issued after two children contracted Cupriavidus and pseudomonas bacterial infections
Systematic Failures and Missed Opportunities
Notes from these incidents reveal that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde had already identified potential environmental sources for infections, including examining ventilation systems, water supplies, sinks and showers. In some cases, extra cleaning regimes using chlorine were implemented and even temporary unit closures were considered.
Remarkably, routine water testing two years earlier had revealed the presence of Cupriavidus bacteria, yet the same test returned negative results when the March 2018 outbreak occurred. Subsequent testing of sinks and showers on the affected ward showed some tested positive for pseudomonas bacteria.
Leadership Accountability Questions
Nicola Sturgeon served as First Minister and Shona Robison as Health Secretary between 2014 and June 2018, covering the period when the hospital opened and until Mr Swinney claimed the government first learned about infection problems. Ms Robison has never been publicly questioned about her knowledge of the developing scandal or why she failed to take decisive action despite the mounting evidence.
It emerged last week that Ms Robison, now Deputy First Minister, cancelled a pledge to have independent experts check infection controls just weeks before the hospital opened. The then-health secretary told MSPs in February 2015 that an independent audit would be carried out at the new Glasgow facility before patients were allowed to move in, but reversed this commitment on April 7 of that year.
Broader Investigation Context
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is currently a suspect in a corporate homicide probe investigating the deaths of four patients at the QEUH and Royal Hospital for Children, including ten-year-old Milly Main, seventy-three-year-old Gail Armstrong, and two other children. Police are separately investigating the deaths of Andrew Slorance, Tony Dynes, and Molly Cuddihy.
Independent experts have reviewed eighty-four children's infections, with approximately one-third possibly linked to the hospitals' environment, though this connection is not accepted by the health board. Last month, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde finally acknowledged there was a probable link between infections in some child cancer patients and the facility's contaminated water supply, though they continue to deny any connection between the hospital's flawed ventilation system and patient infections.
Calls for Transparency and Accountability
Former Health Secretary Alex Neil revealed that he was informed about HIIAT reports depending on their severity during his tenure, stating that "it would depend on how critical it is and if it was of a sufficient level of threat." He has joined calls for Lord Brodie, who is leading the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, to put relevant ministers and special advisors from 2015 on the stand under oath to establish what they knew about the developing crisis.
"Either ministers were told and chose to do nothing, or they were not told and the system was deliberately allowed to fail," Mr Sarwar concluded. "At best it is negligence, at worst it is a criminal conspiracy - either one caused death and avoidable suffering. This sickness at the heart of this SNP government must end."
The Scottish Government has refused to answer direct questions about whether Ms Robison was informed of any HIIAT red or amber reports relating to the QEUH or children's hospital, who in government was told about these incidents, and what specific action was taken in response to the mounting evidence of systemic infection control failures.
