Cancer ward alert level upgraded to red, Swinney says

A cancer ward at a flagship Scottish hospital that was partially closed due to mould and dirty water ingress has had its infection incident alert level upgraded.

First Minister John Swinney said a red alert has now been issued for one of the wards at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

He said the Scottish Government was first told of an amber alert on the ward, which cares for bone marrow transplant patients, on Thursday February 26.

The SNP leader said the infection risk rating was upgraded due to “heightened public anxiety” and not because of any increased risk of harm to patients.

It comes just days after it emerged the ward had been partially closed by the hospital.

The hospital, one of the largest in the UK, is subject to a national inquiry amid deaths and infections linked to its water and ventilation systems.

At First Minister’s Questions (FMQs), Mr Swinney was challenged over what he knew about the hospital and when.

He told MSPs: “I want to be crystal clear with Parliament, the Government received an amber HIIAT (healthcare infection incident assessment tool) alert on February 26, last Thursday, regarding ward 4b at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

“The ward cares for bone marrow transplant patients.

“This morning, the Government was advised that the HIIAT alert was upgraded to red.

“Now, the issue that has made the difference between the amber alert and the red alert is only one factor of difference, and that is the upgrading of one aspect of the higher assessment tool, which is to acknowledge the heightened public anxiety around this matter.

“It is not due to any increased risk of harm to patients. It is important that I put that on the record that, fundamentally, the clinical consensus is that the wards in question are safe.”

Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, said Mr Swinney’s statement “reveals the inconsistency at the heart of this Government”.

He said 14 amber and red warnings were received by ministers before March 2018, when the Government first said it was made aware of issues at the QEUH.

Despite this, Mr Sarwar said the Government “took no action and denied there were infection risks at the hospital”.

Speaking to the First Minister, he said: “He now admits that amber and red warnings come to the Government.

“So why were they ignored before 2018? People died as a result.

“Every step of the way this SNP Government has attempted to misinform, deflect and deny.

“Progress has only ever been made when they have been backed into a corner, and even now they hide behind process rather than just tell the truth.”

Last week, the Scottish Labour leader urged Mr Swinney to establish an independent expert panel to look at individual cases where children were left with “lifelong, debilitating conditions” after receiving powerful anti-infection drugs from the hospital.

Mr Swinney said he would consider the call but that he had to let the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry run its course.

Mr Sarwar brought those families to Holyrood to watch FMQs and meet with him.

The First Minister will meet with those families on Thursday, which Mr Sarwar said would be done online rather than in person.

The Scottish Labour leader urged Mr Swinney to apologise to them.