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The Scottish First Minister, John Swinney, recently addressed concerns on BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show regarding whether families of patients who contracted infections at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) were deliberately misled. Swinney acknowledged that it “does look like” families might have been given false information, but emphasized that it is the role of the ongoing public inquiry to determine the facts. He also highlighted a broader “cultural problem” within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC), which the inquiry is currently uncovering as it scrutinizes the planning, construction, and operation of the hospital complex.
The inquiry, led by Lord Brodie, held its final oral hearings last Friday. While no deadline has been set for the publication of the full report and recommendations, Swinney assured the public that the Scottish Government would respond seriously to the inquiry’s findings and take necessary actions. He described the events surrounding the QEUH as “completely unacceptable.” When questioned about the possibility that families were lied to, Swinney reiterated, “It does look like that, but ultimately it’s for Lord Brodie to come to those conclusions.” Notably, only recently did the health board concede that problems with the hospital’s water system likely caused infections in child cancer patients, a fact they had initially denied.
In a related development, previous BBC reports revealed that a corporate homicide investigation was launched in 2021 concerning the deaths of several patients, including a 10-year-old girl named Milly Main and a 73-year-old woman, among others. The Mail on Sunday later reported that police are looking into six deaths total—three adults and three children—though Police Scotland, the health board, and the Crown Office have neither confirmed nor denied this. Additionally, prosecutors began investigating the death of a young woman who fell ill seven years prior with a hospital-acquired infection. Police Scotland confirmed that it had submitted a report to prosecutors and that the investigation remains ongoing.
The public inquiry itself was established in 2019, four years after the £840 million QEUH campus opened amid growing concerns about patient safety. Particular attention has been paid to the Royal Hospital for Children within the complex, where vulnerable patients with blood disorders and cancer were treated. The inquiry uncovered that 84 children became infected, with Milly Main being among those who died after contracting an infection while in remission. Throughout its course, the inquiry heard testimony from 186 witnesses, and it exposed how NHSGGC initially denied any link between the water system and the infections before reversing its stance. Senior counsel Fred Mackintosh KC criticized the health board for delaying acknowledgment and showed that senior managers had displayed “wilful blindness” to the building’s issues.
Regarding the timeline of the hospital’s opening, the health board admitted in its closing submissions that the QEUH began operating before it was fully ready, citing internal “pressure” to meet project deadlines. Opposition politicians, however, have accused the government of political pressure influencing the hospital’s premature opening—a claim both Swinney and then-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon have strongly rejected. The health board clarified that the referenced pressure was internal rather than political. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar condemned the situation as “criminal incompetence” and emphasized the need for accountability, while Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton criticized Swinney for “hiding behind the inquiry” and called for honesty and a full apology to affected families
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