John Swinney under fire after claiming cancer ward for high-risk patients at troubled hospital was 'safe'

By TOM GORDON, SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 19:14, 25 June 2026 | Updated: 19:14, 25 June 2026 A cancer ward for high-risk patients was declared safe by John Swinney despite ‘widespread’ water ingress and people falling sick with fungal infections. The adult bone marrow transplant unit at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital also had faulty ventilation, a new report has revealed. The city’s health board set up a formal ‘incident management team’ on February 25 after two confirmed fungal infection cases and a possible third had ‘suspected links to the built environment, particularly water ingress and environmental contamination’. The next day the Scottish Government received an amber ‘hospital infection’ alert which was upgraded to red on March 5, the day Mr Swinney updated Holyrood on the situation. He told MSPs: ‘I consider the hospital, and its component parts, to be safe.’ Scottish Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘This is another shocking revelation in the seemingly never-ending QEUH scandal. ‘John Swinney has repeatedly given false assurances about safety at the SNP’s flagship hospital, while patients and staff face unacceptable risks. ‘It’s clear that the QEUH - which the SNP cynically rushed to open long before it was ready, for electoral reasons - still isn’t fit for purpose years on. A cancer unit at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital had water ingress and people falling sick with fungal infections, according to a new report ‘It’s appalling that vulnerable cancer patients are picking up infections while Nationalist ministers bury their heads in the sand and pretend everything is fine.’ Scottish Labour health spokesman Jackie Baillie added: ‘These conflicting statements will only add to the feeling that this is a government and health board addicted to secrecy and cover-up, with members of the public put at risk as a result. ‘We do not need further obfuscation, we need the truth. ‘ The Times reported a paper discussed by NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde’s board yesterday said there was no ‘ongoing clinical concern relating to fungal infection’ and all affected patients had been discharged and were ‘clinically improving’. But it confirmed that in February inspectors ‘identified widespread historic and active water ingress, ventilation compromise and reservoir risks, resulting in the closure of multiple rooms, enhanced environment remediation, HPV (sterilising) cleaning, repeat air sampling, and a structured programme of repairs and assurance testing’. The £1billion super-hospital was recently the focus of a public inquiry after two children died and at least 84 fell ill after catching infections shortly after it opened in 2015. The adult bone marrow transplant unit was declared safe by John Swinney Despite the QEUH not being ready, patients were admitted 10 days before a general election after Mr Swinney promised the campus would open ‘on time and on budget’. Milly Main, 10, picked up a bacterial infection while being treated for leukaemia in 2017. Andrew Slorance, a civil servant who attended the Scottish cabinet that approved the QEUH’s go-ahead, died there aged 49 in 2020 from a fungal infection caught during cancer treatment. NHSGGC long denied any link between the building and an infection ‘spike’, then admitted this year to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry that infections were probably linked to bugs in the water system. Mr Slorance’s widow Louise told the Times the health board had denied water ingress when the latest problems came to light in the spring. She said: ‘Only now, months later and buried in a board paper comes the admission that widespread water ingress was found - this is history repeating itself.’ A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘As the First Minister has said, it is important to put on the record the fundamental clinical consensus that the wards in question are safe. ‘Where issues are identified openly and transparently, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is addressing those issues and will be required by the Government to do exactly that.’ No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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