London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 11, 2025

Scottish Hospitals Inquiry to focus on ventilation

Scottish Hospitals Inquiry to focus on ventilation

A public inquiry into safety at two of Scotland's largest hospitals is set to resume.

The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry will hear evidence on the importance of ventilation systems in infection control.

It will now consider planning for Edinburgh's Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and the Department of Clinical Neurosciences in Edinburgh.

This phase will hear expert and technical evidence.

The inquiry is to establish whether patients were put at risk because of problems with the design, construction and maintenance of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Campus (QEUH) in Glasgow and the Edinburgh children's hospital.

Chairman Lord Brodie wants the inquiry to understand the technical requirements of ventilation in hospitals, so that it can better identify what went wrong with the systems installed at the hospitals being investigated.

The QEUH has been under scrutiny since it opened in 2015.

There have been patient deaths and a series of infections with possible links to the building.

The children's cancer wards at the QEUH were forced to close in 2018 after clusters of unusual infections were detected in children.

An expert review has already concluded that in some of the cases the source of the infections could have been the hospital's water supply and in the cases of two of the children who died, the infections were a contributory factor to their deaths.

Almost £9m has been spent upgrading the hospital's ventilation and water systems and the wards reopened again in March 2022.

Families affected gave evidence to the public inquiry last year.


'Where things went wrong'


One of those was Karen Stirrat whose son was three when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He was treated from February 2019 at the Royal Hospital for Children and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

While in Florida for proton beam therapy, she discovered her son had been given the drug Posaconazole by the Scottish hospital. She was led to believe it was part of his chemotherapy treatment but learned from American doctors that it was prescribed due to the "dirty" hospital.

Karen Stirrat believe families may find answers in the technical details


Ms Stirrat told BBC Scotland: "As much as this phase is about the technical side of it, for families like ours, that is where things went wrong.

"Some of those loved ones aren't here any more due to these technicalities. This part is crucial for us to find out what happened and who was responsible for those choices."

During the May hearing, officials will hear reports and statements from the inquiry's appointed experts.

Their evidence will be focused on technical aspects of ventilation, such as standards and guidance provided to developers working on ventilation within a hospital.

The ventilation systems installed at the Glasgow and Edinburgh hospitals will be the focus of future hearings.

Lord Brodie said: "Our forthcoming hearing will explore the required ventilation standards in a hospital setting, which will undoubtedly lead us to understand the complex challenges and specific issues of the ventilation systems at the Glasgow and Edinburgh hospitals."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
×