Parents must get answers after this shocking cover-up

EVER since it opened in 2015, parents, patients and staff have raised concerns with me about Glasgow’s new super-hospital.

Something has gone seriously wrong at this flagship campus. We knew about waiting time delays and cancelled operations. We knew an inspection found blood and human waste on trolleys. We knew two patients died after contracting an infection linked to pigeon droppings.

And we knew children with cancer contracted infections from the water supply.

Earlier this year, Health Protection Scotland published a report that examined bloodstream infections with organisms potentially linked to water contamination in 2018, revealing there were 23 cases between January and September of that year.

But when I was recently approached by an NHS whistleblower, the true scale of the crisis became clear to me. The information exposed the fact a clinician-led review was held this year, going back further than the HPS probe. It found evidence of an additional 26 infections in 2017, including one case that led to the death of a child.

I was told the findings were shared with senior health board chiefs this summer, but never made public. And the parents of the child who died had not been told. This was an industrial-scale cover-up.

Once I raised the concerns in the Scottish parliament last Thursday, the health board resorted to attacking the whistleblower rather than apologising for what happened. That response was utterly disgraceful.

It also transpired the same day that Health Secretary Jeane Freeman had been aware of the death for two months – but only because the parents contacted her, not because the health board had told her. My focus is on getting answers for parents such as Kimberly Darroch, who contacted me last week in the wake of the whistleblower’s claims. She lost her daughter, Milly Main, at the age of just ten. Milly – who had battled cancer from the age of five – was in remission and looking forward to going home.

BUT after being cared for at the hospital, she died in August 2017. Her death certificate listed one cause as ‘multi-system organ failure possibly due to line sepsis due to Stenotrophomonas maltophilia’ – the infection highlighted in the HPS report.

But nobody had explained this to Kimberly or her family. She has been let down by the board. I have promised her I will stand by her until she gets the answers she deserves.

One thing is clear: the board is not fit for purpose.

We now know another child being treated at the hospital died in 2017. There are important differences between the cases but it is deeply concerning Miss Freeman only learned of the boy’s death at the weekend. I hope she now follows my suggestion NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is placed into ‘special measures’, meaning the Government steps in.

I also hope she will commit to finding the truth and providing answers for those affected without delay, ensure all parents are notified about previous cases, guarantee to protect the jobs of whistleblowers and end the bullying culture at the hospital.

I have called on Holyrood’s health committee to investigate the matter because the previously announced public inquiry could take years. Parents deserve answers now.

I want to see health chiefs in front of MSPs, answering for this cover-up. There is much work to do to restore public confidence and that starts with full transparency.

No family must ever again be put through the heartbreak of saying goodbye to their child because of an infection from the water supply in Scotland’s hospitals.