'Damning evidence' of political pressure to open Glasgow super-hospital

Anas Sarwar has claimed he has found “damning evidence” that political pressure was applied to open Glasgow’s super-hospital on time.

Meeting notes from 2019 state that “political pressure was being felt” and that “no consideration” was given to delaying the opening of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) when it opened in 2015 – despite concerns about its water supply.

The First Minister has said the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry is currently exploring all of these issues.

At least four patients died from infections acquired at the QEUH campus, including ten-year-old Milly Main, who died in 2017 while being treated for leukaemia at the Royal Hospital for Children.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) officials told the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry that pressure was applied to open the hospital on time and on budget before it was ready.

John Swinney has firmly denied that the pressure came from SNP ministers.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar 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 meetings involved a Scottish Government appointed official, then-NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s director of facilities, and a consultant engaged by the NHS.

In the notes, Jim Leiper, a chartered engineer and facilities consultant who had been assisting NHS GGC on several special projects since May 28, 2018, and Professor Tom Steele, the director for estates and facilities at NHS GGC, advised that a “number of lessons could be learned”.

In bullet points attributed to them, they said: “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”.

Sarwar said Swinney “needs to tell us why political pressure was being applied to open a hospital that wasn’t ready and led to people dying”.

When presented with the report, the First Minister said: “There is an inquiry under way exploring all of these issues, which is taking evidence in the presence of Lord Brodie.

“The council to the inquiry said on January 23, that there is no evidence of external pressure on the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to open early or before it was ready to be opened. Lord Brodie is considering all of the issues.”

Sarwar insisted that Swinney had been “found out”.

“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,” Sarwar said.

“It resulted in infections that led to the deaths of children and possibly adults too. All because politics was put before patient safety. This evidence is damning.”

The meeting notes quoted by Sarwar form part of a bundle of miscellaneous documents provided to the public inquiry.