Sturgeon ‘broke law’ over child’s hospital death
Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of failing to take control of the “biggest scandal of the devolution era” and find a family whose child died as a result of a water-borne infection in Scotland’s flagship Queen Elizabeth hospital.
The First Minister was also told she had “broken the law” over the legal duty of candour placed on public institutions when an unintended incident leads to a death.
At First Minister’s Questions yesterday, Ms Sturgeon was challenged over her government’s handling of the scandal of Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital’s infection, which led to the death of two children.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said it was “unforgivable” the mother of one child who died had to “learn the true cause of her daughter’s death in a newspaper and join the dots”, but also for the parents of the second child who died still to not know the truth.
He said he shared evidence 18 months ago about the death of ten-year-old Milly Main.
Mr Sarwar also said a case note review in March this year had “confirmed over 30 infections in children and two children’s deaths”, yet despite a promise from Ms Sturgeon that all affected families would be contacted, “one family has not been informed and it’s feared this is the family of the second child who tragically died”.
Demanding answers on what attempts had been made to contact the family, he added: "The key question is when that first attempt was made.
"I raised the case in November 2019. The case note review team should not be the ones trying to inform that family, because senior clinicians informed the health board about the deaths of two children months earlier in July 2019.
"Scotland’s duty of candour law means families should be informed as soon as the health board became aware. The family should have been informed 18 months ago, not contacted for the first time just a few weeks ago.
"You have broken that law. To be clear – two children died in Scotland’s flagship hospital, one family had to find out by fighting the health board and another family may not even know.
"This is the biggest scandal of the devolution era. Will the First Minister take personal responsibility that this family will be found and told the truth?”
Ms Sturgeon said she extended her “deepest sympathies” to the families affected “as a result of the issues at Queen Elizabeth Hospital”, but said she could not comment on
an individual’s care. She said: “The expert panel has provided individual reports to families of patients included in the case note review and offered to discuss findings with them. They have contacted all families
with the exception of one family. Regrettably and despite extensive efforts by the review team and Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS, that family has not been able to be contacted.”
Mr Sarwar said: “This scandal involved denials, bullying of clinicians, cover-ups ... clinicians have been raising the alarm for years.”