NHS bosses were warned of the “high risk” of water infection at Glasgow’s £840million super hospital when it opened in 2015, damning new evidence reveals.
Despite the red flags, two further inspections by the same contractors found “significant” problems remained in 2017 and 2018.
It comes days after the Record revealed 10-year-old Milly Main died after contracting an infection linked to the water supply at the new hospital. She was in remission from cancer .
Labour MSP Anas Sarwar, who obtained the assessment reports, said concerns were repeatedly raised with Glasgow and Greater Clyde NHS, including in the weeks before and after Milly’s death.
He said: “At each of these stages these warnings were ignored and the appropriate action was not taken. It led to the death of at least one child.
“If this happened in the private sector there wouldn’t be a public inquiry, there would be a criminal investigation.”
Sarwar raised the new evidence at First Minister's Questions in Holyrood.
Sturgeon said: “The Scottish Government is determined to get the answers that Milly’s parents and parents of any children who were treated at the Queen Elizabeth want and deserve.”
Sturgeon said she has not seen the evidence Sarwar disclosed in parliament.
A public inquiry is already under way on the design and build of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and Royal Hospital for Children, on the same site in Glasgow.
On Wednesday, a review by Health Protection Scotland found child cancer patients were at risk during 16 separate infection spikes at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children - around the time Milly died.
According to new information from whistleblowers, debris in a water tank which was first spotted in 2015 was still there two years later.
The first report, commissioned by NHS Estates, found “high risks”, a lack of management structure and problems with water temperature control.
In March 2017, hospital staff alerted management about possible infections in cancer wards.
In August that year infection control doctors requested testing for Stenotrophomas, the same bacteria listed on Milly’s death certificate later that month.
Two months later, an updated risk assessment still found “high risk” problems including ones from 2015.
In 2018, gaps in legionella control were identified.
Figures leaked to Sarwar also suggest there were 50 cases of infections at the Royal Children's Hospital in Glasgow between 2015 and 2018 - and 15 unconfirmed cases so far this year.
The health board has been contacted for a response.
