A two-year old girl was treated for a head wound by medics at a Glasgow Children's Hospital in what appeared to be a storeroom amid the ongoing NHS hospital bed capacity crisis.
Quinn McKenna slipped during a swimming lesson and cracked her head causing a cut on her face, and was taken to the hospital by her mum.
When they arrived, the child was ushered into a room which was clearly used for storage rather than treating patients, the Daily Record reports.
Quinn's dad Martin, an emergency service worker, said there was "no way" the room was a sterile environment for a child with an open wound.
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He told the paper: The place was full of boxes and equipment and during Covid times there is no way the room was a sterile environment - particularly for a child with an open wound.
"It looked as if the bed had just been shoved in there and it didn’t even look that clean.
"They took her into this room to triage her. My wife didn’t want to rock the boat and the doctors were really nice so she didn’t ask why Quinn was being treated in a storage cupboard.
“It said plaster room on the door but whatever it was, it wasn’t appropriate with Covid. How could they keep that place clean with cardboard boxes and medical stuff piled everywhere. The doctors didn’t say anything. It was as if it was normal procedure.”
Last night Labour’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie called the case “deeply worrying” and said it only highlighted the “desperate strain our NHS is under”.
Baillie said: “That children are being seen in such conditions is simply unacceptable. This is a damning indictment on the complete failure of the SNP to re-mobilise the NHS.
"The Health Secretary must act now to ensure that we have surge capacity to stop scenes like this being repeated throughout the winter.”
A spokesman from NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde said: “On this particular day our Emergency Department was extremely busy so the patient was seen in the plaster room to ensure prompt assessment and treatment.
“This is within our escalation plan when activity is high and we can confirm adheres to all infection prevention and guidelines.
“This use of space allowed the patient to be seen, treated and discharged in two hours. We apologise for any distress caused to the patient and her family.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “While the health board of course rightly apologised for any distress to the family, they made clear that this plaster room adheres to all infection prevention guidelines and allowed the patient to be seen, treated and discharged in two hours.
“During this unprecedented pressure on the NHS, health boards are dealing with exceptional demand and will utilise all available capacity to safely treat people as quickly as possible, and we thank them for their dedication and hard work.”
