Overview
- On the final day of evidence, senior counsel Fred Mackintosh KC said NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s early denials and delayed acceptance had severely hindered the inquiry’s work, which has heard from 186 witnesses and cost more than £31 million.
- In closing submissions, the board accepted a probable causal connection between paediatric bloodstream infections and the state of the water system in 2016–2018 and issued a sincere and unreserved apology while asserting the hospitals are safe today.
- Mackintosh said there is “precious little” to show meaningful cultural change at the health board and urged immediate action such as retraining rather than waiting for Lord Brodie’s forthcoming report.
- The board acknowledged that three whistleblowers were not treated as they ought to have been and said the process had a significant impact on their wellbeing.
- Families accused the health board of smearing them and demanded a full upgrade of water and ventilation systems, with some rejecting the apology and calling for political accountability, including appeals for Nicola Sturgeon to explain decisions around the hospital’s opening.