by Bill Heaney
The long-running scandal of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus, which serves West Dunbartonshire and includes the Royal Children’s Hospital, continued in the Scottish Parliament today.
Labour leader Anas Sarwar who has done more than any other politician to bring the scandal into the public domain told MSPs: “More than a decade ago, the Scottish National Party Government opened a hospital . Children died at that hospital, so I suggest that members listen. That hospital was not safe because of ventilation and water safety issues.
“Four years later, the opening of the sick kids hospital in Edinburgh was delayed because of ventilation and water issues. Now it has emerged that, in Aberdeen, the opening of the new Baird family hospital and the Aberdeen and north centre for haematology, oncology and radiotherapy—the ANCHOR centre—is being delayed again because of ventilation and water safety issues. Those are three hospitals in three cities that sum up the mess that the SNP has made of running our country.
“At the core of all that is the lie and the cover-up about what happened at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital. Had the Government told the truth and confronted the problems then, the mistakes would not have been repeated. Instead, that lie has cost the public purse £millions and meant delayed and defective hospitals. Tragically, that lie has cost lives. Why was that lie more important to John Swinney than patient safety?”
“Issues arose from the Queen Elizabeth university hospital that resulted in the Scottish Government commissioning a public inquiry that is still sitting and looking at those issues; we await the findings of Lord Brodie.
“Because of the issues that emerged at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital, my late colleague Jeane Freeman stopped the opening of the Royal hospital for children and young people, because she was concerned about safety issues.
“Therefore, there was no cover-up and no ignoring the reality. The very reason why Jeane Freeman took the decision not to open the children’s hospital in Edinburgh was her response to the issues at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital.
“The Baird and the ANCHOR centre in Aberdeen are delayed because the same cautious approach that was taken in Edinburgh is being taken to the Baird and ANCHOR. That is because this Government takes the issue of patient safety seriously—and it always will under my leadership.”
Anas Sarwar replied: “I suggest that John Swinney looks Kimberly Darroch, pictured right with Anas Sarwar, in the eye and makes those same comments, because she was lied to. She was not told the truth about how her daughter was killed, and we have seen all the consequences that resulted from that in the eight years that followed.“For the past two months, John Swinney has insisted that all of the Queen Elizabeth university hospital is safe, all while he was receiving internal warnings about infection risks and the health board was drawing up plans to rebuild parts of the hospital. The bone marrow transplant ward needs to be replaced. That proves that, for 10 years, patients have been lied to about safety standards at the hospital.
“Therefore, I ask again: why was the lie more important to John Swinney than patient safety?”
“We have established an oversight group to provide greater public reassurance in an open and transparent fashion. Representatives of the families who have suffered unbearably as a consequence of the issues at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital are members of that oversight group, and that is essential for the issues of public transparency to be taken forward.
“I make absolutely clear to the public the importance that I attach to public safety, and that is what I require of health boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.”
“I have spent more than eight years with those families and doctors, listening to their stories, hearing their pain and trying to get them justice. Over that time, John Swinney and his SNP Government have sided with management and denied the problems.
“I make a firm commitment today that [if Labour gets into office at the election on May 7] I will publish all validation documents in relation to the Queen Elizabeth university hospital, do any repair work and build any new wards, including, if necessary, the cancer wards. Will the First Minister make that same commitment right now?”
“What lies at the heart of Mr Sarwar’s point is a misconstruing of what the Government has done and a deliberate attempt to mislead and misrepresent the Government’s position.
“I come back to what I said in my answer to his first question. Because of the experience at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital, the Government established a public inquiry. Because of the concern of my late colleague Jeane Freeman, there was a delay to the opening of the Edinburgh children’s hospital until the issues were addressed. There is a delay to the Baird and the ANCHOR because we are prioritising patient safety. That is the absolute opposite of what Mr Sarwar has put to the Parliament today.
“I think that people in Scotland will be pretty sceptical about the things that Mr Sarwar says in here and the commitments that he gives, because we saw the real side of Mr Sarwar yesterday in his flippant and disrespectful comments about those in our society who suffer strokes. Mr Sarwar should do the decent thing and apologise with his own words.”
Two of the victims of infections in the dirty Queen Elizabeth University hospital — Milly Main and her mother Kimberley Darroch and Molly Cuddihy giving evidence to the inquiry into how the scandalous situation came about.