Seòmar agus comataidhean

Will the minister take an intervention?

I find myself having to ask the same question as other members. Families deserve to know this: has every ward and every area been audited and validated as safe to be used today?

I appreciate the minister taking an intervention. You say how important this is and that you think that it could be a bill that we could work with. Are there any amendments that would enable us to move forward with the bill?

Will the minister take an intervention?

I find myself having to ask the same question as other members. Families deserve to know this: has every ward and every area been audited and validated as safe to be used today?

That is helpful. I appreciate your time.

Good morning. I want to ask about the effects of inflation, which I know you have already touched on in your answers.

To what extent do changing inflation forecasts pose a risk to the social security budget? How do you feel the Scottish Government handles its inflation forecasting in relation to its overall budget?

I appreciate that answer, as it has helped me to understand the issue a wee bit better. You are saying that, on the whole, inflation is a lowish risk, but there is a risk if Scotland decides to have a different policy that is demand led in responding to needs. The Scottish Government needs to make sure that it thinks about how it can manage that.

I thank the member for her speech and for mentioning the families in the way that she has. It is much appreciated.

Given what the member is saying, will she support our motion, in order to ensure that we get immediate disclosure of the information that we need?

Public trust in governance and decision making, whether at the local or national level, is crucial for our institutions and democracy. Transparency and accountability are equally as important. We in the Parliament would all agree that people who work in public service must strive to ensure that those values are upheld.

In 2015, the Queen Elizabeth university hospital campus opened its doors for the first time. It was celebrated as a super-hospital and welcomed as one of the most advanced healthcare facilities in the world, yet, 10 years later, this flagship hospital faces a serious scandal.

That is not only because the contamination of the hospital’s water and ventilation system caused serious infection in child cancer patients and four deaths, but because of the subsequent secrecy, covering up and silencing of staff who tried to expose the truth. The cabinet secretary is shying away from answering questions that relate to the here and now. Families were gaslit, dismissed and denied the truth. We do not want that to happen again.

There are many failings that we can discuss in this debate—in leadership, accountability and transparency.

First, the board failed to listen to the families, doctors and whistleblowers who raised concerns from the beginning about problems with the water and ventilation system. The public inquiry heard first-hand accounts of management attempts to silence, threaten and belittle staff, and it is clear that whistleblowing procedures were not followed. The growing culture of ignoring staff and refusing to act on their concerns raises serious questions about management structures in and the leadership of our NHS.

It also raises concern about this SNP Government’s oversight of our most valuable public asset. Problems with water systems were identified in 2015 and again in 2017, but the Scottish Government claims that it was first made aware of them in March 2018. However, as my colleague Anas Sarwar said, there are serious questions about whether that is true. We need some truth. Given that the Government says that it was unaware of the issues in its brand-new super-hospital, it is clear that it failed to provide the oversight and effective leadership that was required.

Secondly, proper procedure failed and the hospital was opened before it was ready. The failure to carry out proper checks resulted in the premature opening of a facility that was not fit for purpose. Evidence to the inquiry shows that the risk of waterborne infection was foreseeable and that it had been raised but was not acted upon. That was a serious error in judgment.

The pressure to open the hospital on time and within budget, whether that came from within the hospital or above, must be heavily scrutinised. It is our job in the Parliament to scrutinise those issues. All those who were involved in decision making, be that operational or political, must be held to account—that is why we are discussing the issue in this debate. The culture of secrecy and cover-up must come to an end.

Thirdly, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde failed to accept that the water and ventilation systems could be the cause of infections. It failed to admit serious errors in judgment, and it failed to take accountability. In doing so, it prevented transparency and withheld the truth from patients and families. Staff were neglected, families were ignored, and the public were denied the truth.

We are debating this issue today because the Queen Elizabeth university hospital was allowed to open before it should have. We must question that. Families were denied the truth about the role of the hospital in causing the infections and deaths of patients. The Scottish Government is refusing to take any accountability for the errors that were made under its watch. Accountability is what we must discuss, and the Scottish Government was accountable for what happened in our NHS.

I cannot begin to imagine the pain and trauma that those who are affected by the scandal have faced; they are brave to have spoken out. To lose a child to an avoidable death or to have them suffer a severe infection is one thing, but to be denied the truth about the true cause of their death or infection is quite another. Patients and families are angry, and they should be. What they seek now is truth and justice, and that is what they deserve.

I urge the Government to authorise the immediate and full disclosure and preservation of communications that relate to the contaminated water and inadequate ventilation systems and the premature opening of the hospital, as well as any further communications that relate to the issues that we are discussing. By not publishing those documents, we would risk abandoning transparency, diminishing the public’s trust and repeating the same mistakes.

There were problems with the hospital from the very beginning. Long waiting times, staff vacancies and poor infrastructure. The SNP cannot deny its incompetence in overseeing the development and opening of a hospital that would go on to have so many problems.

If the Scottish Government has nothing to hide, it should prove it. Providing full transparency over this matter is the least that the Scottish Government can do for those whistleblowers and families, and it is the least that the patients, families and staff deserve.