Scotland’s biggest health board at heart of ‘cover-ups’ facing high-level investigation
SCOTLAND’S biggest health board — at the heart of alleged cover-ups — is facing a high-level probe by the transparency watchdog.
Bosses at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have been attacked for a “damning reflection” of a “culture of secrecy”.
The health board, which was blasted by families over the deaths of Millie Main, ten, and ex-Scottish Government civil servant Andrew Slorance, 49, at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, is under fresh scrutiny from the Scottish Information Commissioner.
Millie died in the QEUH in 2017 after contracting an infection found in water while undergoing cancer treatment.
Police Scotland later launched a corporate homicide criminal investigation into her death.
Mr Slorance died after catching Covid at the time he was having cancer treatment in 2020, with his widow accusing the board of failing to provide all the information for why he died.
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In a letter to NHS GGC, information commissioner David Hamilton said he has increased the scrutiny of his probe to “level three”, examining “systemic failures”.
He added: “This is as a consequence of the poor performance and non-compliance that has continued despite the earlier Level One intervention.
“The authority should be responding to at least 85 per cent of freedom of information requests on time but is falling woefully short of that target and also below the performance of other Scottish public authorities in your sector.
"This performance is indicative of a serious, systemic failure that requires board level attention, resourcing and prioritisation.”
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Dame Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour deputy leader, said: “This is a damning reflection of the culture of secrecy and cover-up fostered by the former chair and current chief executive at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.”
Scottish Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie added: “This would seem to indicate major issues around transparency at the health board.”
Scottish Tory deputy health spokeswoman Tess White said: “This systemic failure to respond to freedom of information requests in a timely manner will only raise suspicion among patients and loved ones about what officials are trying to keep from them.”
In a statement, NHS GGC said: “We are committed to working with the information commissioner to ensure information requests from the public and other stakeholders are responded to promptly.
"We have submitted an action plan to the commissioner setting out a number of actions we are taking to achieve a sustained, improved performance."