Nicola Sturgeon has admitted health authorities have still not found a family who are in the dark over how their child died at a Glasgow super hospital.
The First Minister conceded the family had not been traced four months after the tragic case was first raised with her by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
Sarwar urged her to “own this crisis” and “get a grip” of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which he described as “rotten”.
A Government-commissioned probe concluded that the deaths of two children at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital were “at least in part” the result of infections at the facility.
One was ten year old cancer patient Milly Main, who was in remission but died at the QEUH after contracting a water-linked infection.
A second child’s death was “probably linked” to the hospital environment, but the family has not been reached.
A criminal investigation has been launched into Milly’s death and Sarwar has referred the second child’s death for a similar probe.
At Holyrood, he put Sturgeon on the spot by asking why this death had not been reported for investigation by the authorities.
The First Minister replied: “These are really serious matters that the government has and continues to take seriously.”
She said an independent public inquiry into the QEUH was underway, as were police investigations into some of the deaths.
Sarwar shot back: “Milly's family is fighting for answers. They now have a criminal investigation into her death. The other family has been kept in the dark, and up until now, there has been no criminal investigation into their child's death.
“These cases shouldn't be treated differently. It shouldn't take a family publicly fighting for answers. That's not acceptable. There should have been criminal investigations into both deaths as soon as the circumstances became clear.”
Sturgeon said she had the “greatest of sympathy” for the families affected, but claimed:
“It is not up to me what cases are investigated from a criminal perspective, and which are not. Rightly that is not up to me, that is up to the police and the Crown office.
Pressed twice by Sarwar for an update on whether the missing family had been found, Sturgeon said of the health board:
“As I understand it, they have not located the family. As I absolutely understand it that is not for the want of trying and effort, and that appropriate steps will continue to be taken.”
Sarwar first raised the hospital death case with Sturgeon May.
As revealed by the Record today, Sarwar reported the second child’s death to the Crown Office himself.
He said: “This should be a criminal investigation, just as rightly there is an investigation into Milly Main’s death.
“We know from an independent inquiry that the second child’s death was linked to the failings at the hospital, so it’s extraordinary that this was not already referred to the police.
“If they had died anywhere else, it would have been treated as a crime scene.
The Government previously said it was ”exploring” using police and consulate resources to find the family.
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