Under fire health chiefs were accused of prioritising the environment over patient safety at a deadly superhospital. The Queen Elizabeth University is being probed by an Inquiry which is set to make its conclusions in the coming months, and has been labelled "safe" by John Swinney and Angela Constance.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's (NHSGGC) handling of the scandal is being scrutinised, with officials accused of mistreating whistleblowers who raised concerns about the near £1bn Glasgow premises. Opened in 2015 "before it was ready," the construction was botched amid issues with the ventilation and water systems.
The Crown Office is probing potential corporate homicide over seven deaths linked to the building, including children. Patients and families still fear the QEUH is not safe, with the ventilation in some key rooms, housing the most vulnerable patients, still not at recommended levels.
A Times story quoted expert Andrew Poplett, who has conducted audits of the building and is an engineer specialising in healthcare ventilation. The recommended number of air charges per hour for healthcare settings is six, but at the QEUH most rooms had a system that delivers two to for an hour.
He said that while the air cooling system at the QEUH was good for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it did not meet health standards: "It appeared that the environmental consideration to make the hospital as energy efficient and as green as possible took priority over the clinical requirement."
Still to this day, not all wards at the hospital have been independently verified, with the bone marrow transplant ward being replaced due to safety concerns after mould and water ingress were reported. Rooms in the Royal Hospital for Children reported similar issues, as well as problems with the water supply.
Source: Scottish Daily Express, 11 October 2026
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