Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 28 January 2026 [Draft]
28 Jan 2026 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Scottish Hospitals Inquiry
More than a decade ago, the Queen Elizabeth university hospital opened before it was ready. It opened with contaminated water; that contamination infected patients and led to the deaths of at least two children. Weeks before the children’s hospital opened, an internal report warned of a high risk of infection and, therefore, a high risk to life for immunocompromised patients. That warning was ignored. Children were forced to fight not only cancer but unseen danger inside the very walls that were meant to protect them. I believe that to be at least negligence but, more likely, criminal incompetence. Pressure was applied and the hospital opened anyway, with devastating consequences.
I want to put on record that I recognise the extraordinary work that happens at the hospital every single day and the fact that many NHS staff go above and beyond. However, that must be true for every patient and every family. One failure is one too many, and what happened is not simply one failure but, without question, the biggest scandal in the history of this Scottish Parliament.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur)
LD
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-20561, in the name of Anas Sarwar, on the role of political decision making in national health service sc...
Anas Sarwar (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
More than a decade ago, the Queen Elizabeth university hospital opened before it was ready. It opened with contaminated water; that contamination infected pa...
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD)
LD
Anas Sarwar is absolutely right to pay tribute to the hard-working staff at the QEUH. Does he recognise that several staff members have been affected by comp...
Anas Sarwar
Lab
I recognise that. I actually want to start by focusing on the staff and recognising the people who are often only described as the whistleblowers. They are, ...
Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP)
SNP
Will Anas Sarwar take an intervention?
Anas Sarwar
Lab
I will not, because if anyone should intervene and answer those direct questions, it should be the health secretary, whose job it is to know the answer to su...
Christine Grahame
SNP
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I hesitate to intervene in this way, but I have concerns about the fact that although the inquiry has yet to report, ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Thank you for your point of order, Ms Grahame. Were I to believe that he was stepping into an area that he should not be stepping into, I would step in. I do...
Anas Sarwar
Lab
I have been raising these issues for seven years and, for seven years, I have heard the same nonsense that Christine Grahame has just recounted. I say to Sc...
Anas Sarwar
Lab
We must know the truth behind the political decision making. The inquiry is vital and it must run its course, but new information has come to light in the pa...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Speak through the chair.
Anas Sarwar
Lab
Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney and Shona Robison have not given testimony at the inquiry and have not been cross-examined. Without that, we will never have th...
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care (Neil Gray)
SNP
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate. The matters that are before us today go to the heart of public trust and patient safety, and I begi...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
I am grateful to the cabinet secretary for giving way. You were asked a question about validation of every section of the hospital. That is not about the inq...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Please speak through the chair.
Neil Gray
SNP
That is a matter for the inquiry. Lord Brodie has instructed independent evidence as to the hospital’s current infrastructure. That evidence was provided by ...
Anas Sarwar
Lab
Is it validated—yes or no?
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Mr Sarwar, you have had an opportunity to state your case. I would be grateful if you were not making interventions from a sedentary position.
Neil Gray
SNP
That is a matter for the inquiry to determine. There are live inquiries under way that must be allowed the respect to conclude their business before we make ...
Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Lab)
Lab
I am grateful, but the cabinet secretary is mistaken. There are questions about what happened, but the question that Ms Baillie put to him is: what is the cu...
Neil Gray
SNP
That is a matter for the inquiry. Interruption. I will come to this. It is a matter for Lord Brodie to determine the evidence that he seeks, relevant to the ...
Brian Whittle (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
Will the cabinet secretary give way?
Neil Gray
SNP
No, I will not. I am sorry, but I have given way for the final time. Lord Brodie has taken independent evidence as to the current situation with the hospit...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
I remind members that reacting to what is being said in the chamber is one thing, but I will not accept running commentaries on what is being said. 15:29
Brian Whittle (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
I do not want to be speaking in this debate, because it has come about because of failure—a failure that has led to men, women and children dying unnecessari...
Neil Gray
SNP
I have no doubt that the hospital is safe. The question that I was asked by Jackie Baillie was on something different, which is subject to the terms of the i...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
Would the member take an intervention from me?
Brian Whittle
Con
I shall stay seated.
Jackie Baillie
Lab
Thank you. What the cabinet secretary described was not my question. I think that he is misinterpreting it. If he had paid attention to what was going on in ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Again, through the chair. I can give you the time back, Mr Whittle.