NHS board 'won't mark its own homework' in review of crisis-hit Glasgow hospital

Two independent experts have been appointed to oversee a review of infection cases at a crisis-hit super hospital in Glasgow after health secretary Jeane Freeman said the NHS board in charge could not be left to "mark its own homework".

Ongoing issues relating to infection prevention, management and control at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Govan have led to the Scottish Conservatives to make repeated calls for Ms Freeman to resign.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the country's largest health board, has been rocked by number of scandals around the QEUH after a series of infections and death of patients.

Labour said it was "incredible" that while new appointments had been made to the board, no one has so far been asked to leave.

The health secretary insisted the Scottish Government had "acted appropriately, at the right time" over the crisis-hit Queen Elizabeth University Hospital

In a statement to MSPs at Holyrood today, the health secretary said that Professor Mike Stevens of the University of Bristol, and Gaynor Evans, NHS Improvement England’s Clinical lead for the Gram-negative Bloodstream Infection Programme, would oversee a previously ordered review of infection cases at the hospital.

It is being led by Professor Marion Bain who was appointed by Ms Freeman in December to take over responsibility for infection and control at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

The health secretary said: "I consider it imperative to the restoration of confidence that no one in this process will be in the business of ‘marking their own homework’. Not NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, not NHS Scotland. All must be subject to expert, independent and external scrutiny.

"The work of the review team will be advised and subject to scrutiny by experts from outside Scotland."

Ms Freeman announced last week that special measures imposed on NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde by the Scottish Government had been escalated amid ongoing concern over its performance.

The health board was partly placed in Stage 4 special measures in November but Ms Freeman has extended those measures to cover the entire health board.

Scottish Conservatives health spokesman Miles Briggs asked Ms Freeman why, given on-going issues at other hospitals, it had taken her "this long to act".

The health secretary insisted the Scottish Government had "acted appropriately, at the right time, in terms of infection prevention and control".

She added: "Greater Glasgow and Clyde has not responded to those actions and that support as I would expect them to do. And that is why they have been elevated to level four, which is a serious level for a board to be at."

Labour's health spokeswoman, Monica Lennon, said: "Families, staff and whistle-blowers have feared a cover-up of the many complaints, crises, and tragedies that have plagued the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital since it opened in 2015.

"It is only now, in 2020, that we are beginning to see serious action being taken.

"Along the way, the public has lost confidence in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. So while the health secretary has invited people to join and help the board, no one has been asked to leave - and that feels quite incredible.