Members of group set up to make NHS board more transparent are... GAGGED!

By HANNAH RODGER, SCOTTISH CHIEF REPORTER Published: 18:20, 4 July 2026 | Updated: 18:28, 4 July 2026 Members of a group set up to improve ‘transparency’ at a scandal-hit health board have been told they need to agree to a gagging clause. In March NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) and the Scottish Government announced the formation of a new Safety and Public Confidence Oversight Group to address failings by the health board in the wake of deadly infections at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH). The £1bn QEUH campus is at the centre of a public inquiry after dozens of patients, mainly children with cancer, contracted rare infections there. The deaths of some patients, including ten-year-old Milly Main and 73-year-old Gail Armstrong, are being probed by the Crown Office, with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde named as a suspect in the corporate homicide investigation. As revealed by this newspaper, NHSGGC admitted in January that contaminated water at the facility most likely caused infections in some child cancer patients, after denying any link for more than six years. There have been multiple flaws identified with the hospital’s water and ventilation systems in the 11 years since it opened. The Mail on Sunday can now reveal that members of the new group, including families of patients who died, have been asked to agree to a confidentiality clause as part of a code of conduct in order to take part. The QEUH hospital in Glasgow has been plagued by problems since it opened in 2015 The deaths of several patients, including Milly Main, 10, are being investigated  All members, including whistleblower Dr Christine Peters, NHSGGC chief executive Jann Gardner and Professor John Cuddihy, whose daughter Molly died after contracting an infection while being treated for cancer, have been handed the agreement, sources told the MoS. Critics said the gagging clause is the opposite of being transparent and raised concerns about the fact that all information about the group’s activities are being filtered through NHSGGC – which has previously faced accusations of being untruthful when dealing with questions and concerns from patients, families and the press. Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: ‘This is a deeply concerning revelation which suggests the same culture of secrecy and cover-up that has caused so much damage persists within NHSGGC. ‘If any lessons are to be learned from the past, then transparency must be integral. That cannot be the case when those participating in this group are being made to sign confidentiality agreements. ‘Patients, staff, and families at the QEUH deserve openness and honesty from the leadership, not more of the same. ‘That includes ensuring that all meetings that take place are minuted and published so that the people have full transparency. ‘Only by doing this will we be able to recover public trust in the QEUH and in their governance arrangements’. Dr Christine Peters, one of the scandal whistleblowers, is a member of the new group Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said there was still a 'culture of secrecy' The group was described by First Minister John Swinney as an attempt to ‘build confidence and trust in the operation of the hospital’. In March he told MSPs: ‘That is why representatives of the families who have suffered are members of the public oversight group that is looking at these very issues. It was my request that they be on that group, which is independently co-chaired by Professor Sir Lewis Ritchie to make sure that there is openness.’ After the first meeting on March 11, NHSGGC said the formation of the group signalled a ‘new era in patient safety and transparency’. But despite there having been three meetings, the minutes of only one of the sessions have been published. Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs MSP said: ‘It should set alarm bells ringing that members of this oversight group have been forced to agree to this gagging order. ‘The SNP desperately tried to cover-up concerns about the safety of Scotland’s largest hospital, so this latest revelation will deeply concern patients and staff. ‘We need full transparency and urgent action to guarantee patient safety and real accountability. ‘Instead it looks this scandal will only feature more spin and secrecy from the SNP.’ After the MoS contacted NHSGGC about the missing meeting minutes the health board published more of the documents online, and said: ‘All minutes are approved at SPCG and then an update is given at NHSGGC Board meetings. They are then published the day after our board meeting.’ The health board said the confidentiality clause was ‘a fairly standard board committee code of conduct’ that ‘doesn’t required to be signed’. No comments have so far been submitted. 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