Edinburgh's new Sick Kids hospital: Miles Briggs urges more independent procedures to prevent repeat of mistakes
Lothian MSP Miles Briggs has called for stronger, more independent procedures to stop any repeat of the mistakes made with Edinburgh's new Sick Kids hospital, which had its opening cancelled at the last minute.
The hospital, which had already been delayed several times, was within days of welcoming its first patients in July 2019 when it was discovered the ventilation was not up to the required standard, raising concerns for patient safety.
The then Health Secretary Jeane Freeman ordered a halt and detailed checks of the new building. Urgent repairs had to be carried out and the hospital eventually opened in March 2021.
An inquiry has since found that NHS Lothian was not clear enough in what it required in terms of ventilation, relying instead on the contractor's interpretation of NHS guidance for ventilation systems, and that it had provided a document setting out specification which included an "undetected error".
In an interim report, the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry also said NHS Lothian had left patients and their families "in the dark" over the reasons for the delay in opening.
In a statement in the Scottish Parliament last week, Health Secretary Neil Gray said: "It is clear from the inquiry report that communications fell below the standard that we would expect.
"The impact of unclear or poor communication on the wellbeing of parents, patients and their families during a very difficult, emotional and uncertain period in their lives is not to be underestimated."
Mr Gray went on: "To those who rely on the hospital, and those who should have been able to rely on information about what was happening, I make the commitment that the Scottish Government will improve, and I will work with the health boards to ensure that we all learn lessons that put parents, patients and families at the heart of the decisions that are taken and their impacts."
But Mr Briggs said he wanted to ensure the independence which he believed was required for transparency. He said: "When these things happen health boards go into lockdown and don't want to be transparent.
“I'm not sure that a 'communications strategy' is enough. I think we need some sort of escalation option, perhaps getting the health inspectorate involved.”
He said the Mid-Staffs scandal in England, when hundreds of patients died over a four-year period due to poor care, had resulted in new procedures to deal with operational pressures.
“We have something along these lines, but it's all internal to the Scottish Government. I think there's space for something more independent. I think we need to look at that and create that sort of independence so that when these things happen there is an opportunity to escalate it and ministers can be transparent.
“Just saying 'We've learned lessons' and 'We've listened' isn’t good enough. We need to put in place stronger procedures around patient safety.”