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Neil Gray is being urged to make an urgent statement amid a health board’s admission there was probably a “causal connection” between infections suffered by patients and the water system at Scotland’s superhospital.
The Scottish Conservatives are demanding the health secretary face questions at Holyrood following closing submissions made by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry.
The inquiry has been examining the design and construction of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow and the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC), which are on the same campus.
The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. Pic: PA
It was launched in the wake of deaths linked to infections, including that of 10-year-old Milly Main.
Milly died in 2017 after contracting an infection within the RHC’s cancer ward.
Ahead of final oral hearings, set to begin on Tuesday, NHSGGC said it has been “broadly acknowledged that there is no definite link between infections and the water system”.
However, it said it accepts it is “more likely than not that a material proportion of the additional environmentally relevant blood stream infections (BSI) in the paediatric haemato-oncology population between 2016 and 2018 had a connection to the state of the hospital water system”.
The health board said that, as previously stated, the rate of infection steadily decreased after remedial measures were started, including those pertaining to the water system, in 2018.
It noted: “NHSGGC accepts that, on the balance of probabilities, there is a causal connection between some infections suffered by patients and the hospital environment, in particular the water system.”
The health board added it “departs from its earlier submissions in this regard, having heard all expert evidence”.
Dr Sandesh Gulhane, shadow health secretary for the Scottish Tories, said Mr Gray must address parliament to reassure patients and “spell out” what government ministers “knew and when”.
The MSP added: “The public deserve clarity and accountability on this huge and growing scandal.”
Dr Gulhane said “grieving families deserve answers” as he branded NHSGGC’s eleventh-hour admission as “cynical and shameful”.
He said: “Full transparency from all involved is essential. That’s why the Scottish Conservatives are demanding an urgent statement from Neil Gray.”
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The Scottish government previously said it established a statutory public inquiry “so that families could get answers to their questions, and so that lessons can be learned for future hospital projects”.
A spokesperson added: “As an independent core participant of the inquiry, the Scottish government is committed to assisting the inquiry and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this time.”
