Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 01 December 2021
I am short of time. I know that Mr Hoy is up next, but I have only four minutes and I am aware of the short time for the debate.
The Scottish Government has consistently taken the action that is necessary to ensure greater transparency and learning from the issues that have occurred at the hospital. The cabinet secretary established an independent review group to look at the building’s design, construction, commissioning, handover and on-going maintenance and at how all those matters contributed to infection control.
As we heard, the Scottish Government established an oversight board after Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board was escalated to stage 4 on NHS Scotland’s performance framework.
An independent public inquiry is currently under way into the Queen Elizabeth university hospital and, of course, the Royal hospital for children and young people in Edinburgh. The important point to remember is that it is already under way.
The independent case note review, led by Professor Mike Stevens, looked back at clinical cases to determine whether a link to infections associated with the Queen Elizabeth university hospital existed. Its report was published in 2021.
The Scottish Government has consistently listened to expert recommendations and will continue to assess and monitor arrangements with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. A significant amount of work is already under way to address infection in hospitals and reduce the incidence of infection, as we heard from Maree Todd.
We talked about why Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board was escalated to stage 4. The public inquiry will ensure that the issues raised are fully investigated.
The concerns about Aspergillus infections have been mentioned. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has asked Healthcare Improvement Scotland to carry out a wider review. Any necessary action will be taken as a result of those strands of work.
The public inquiry comes back to the crux of the matter. It is chaired by Lord Brodie. It is entirely independent and its conduct, procedures and lines of inquiry are a matter for the chair, not the Government. The inquiry is a critical next step in seeking to understand the issues that affected both the Queen Elizabeth and the Royal in Edinburgh.