Scottish hospitals inquiry: What is being investigated?

The public inquiry into safety and wellbeing issues at two Scottish hospitals is due to resume Monday. This latest stage will hear evidence on the importance of ventilation systems in infection prevention and control.

The inquiry is being chaired by Lord Brodie QC and is examining issues at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow, and the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (RHCYP) and Department of Clinical Neurosciences in Edinburgh.

The RHCYP in Edinburgh was due to open in July 2019 but was delayed after last-minute inspections found safety concerns over its ventilation systems.

The Scottish government then stepped in to prevent the hospital from opening just one day before it was due to accept patients.

The £840m QEUH campus in Glasgow opened in April 2015 and has faced a series of contamination incidents since then, linked to issues with water quality and ventilation systems.

An independent review into the hospital's design published its findings in June 2020.

The report found a "series of problems" with the design and build of the hospital, but no clear evidence to link those failures to any "avoidable deaths".

Jeane Freeman said in June 2020 that the inquiry had been ordered to protect the "safety and well-being of all patients and their families", which the health secretary said should be a "primary consideration" in all NHS construction projects.