John Swinney faces FMQs amid pressure from fatal water infection scandal

John Swinney will face First Minister’s Questions as pressure grows on the Government to release all documentation relating to a Glasgow super-hospital at the centre of a fatal water infection scandal.

The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) is at the centre of the ongoing Scottish Hospitals Inquiry.

It was launched following a series of infection-related deaths, including that of ten-year-old Milly Main, who died in 2017 while being treated for leukaemia at the Royal Hospital for Children.

Milly was diagnosed with leukaemia aged five, but was in remission when she picked up an infection at QEUH.

Following admissions made during the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, the families issued a joint statement on Thursday saying they were “lied to, demeaned and smeared” by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

It comes after NHSGGC said in closing submissions to the inquiry that pressure was applied to open the hospital on time and on budget, and it is now clear that it opened “too early” and that it “was not ready”.

The inquiry has been examining the design, build, and commissioning of the hospital and their impact on patient safety, hearing from 186 witnesses in the process.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and his deputy Dame Jackie Baillie have urged John Swinney to release all documentation relating to the Glasgow hospital.

In a letter sent to the First Minister and health secretary, the pair – who this week called for a criminal investigation into the situation at the hospital – said: “We maintain the belief that ministerial conduct during this process could have breached a criminal threshold and should be investigated by the proper authorities.

“The public has a right to know what ministers knew, when they knew it, and what actions were taken.”

Meanwhile, the Scottish Tories have pushed for former first minister Nicola Sturgeon to make a personal statement in Holyrood on the issue.

Swinney is likely to face questions and pressure from opposition leaders about the scandal.

FMQs will be broadcast from the Scottish Parliament at midday on Thursday.