2. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has paid a private company to spy on Louise Slorance, a grieving widow who lost her husband in the Queen Elizabeth university hospital infections scandal. Why does the First Minister have confidence in the leadership of a health board that spies on the families of dead patients?

I again give my condolences to Louise Slorance on the death of Andrew. Andrew Slorance was a colleague; I worked with him, particularly when I was Minister for Transport and the Islands, on the work that he did on resilience.

On the back of a previous question that Anas Sarwar asked, I reached out to Louise Slorance, and I believe that we will be meeting shortly. I am happy to discuss with her these issues and any others that she wishes to discuss.

I was disturbed by the reports that were in the newspapers in this regard. It is my understanding—I am sure that Anas Sarwar would expect this—that a level of media monitoring is done by a board, particularly one that is the size of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. However, having listened to the concerns that have been raised by Louise Slorance, I think that the board has taken the right action by removing her from the media monitoring that it does. I have already requested that the board listens compassionately and sensitively to the patients who have been impacted and affected. I understand that it is reviewing its media monitoring and communications processes. At the heart of those should be patients and, in particular, people who have been bereaved and those who have raised concerns about those issues.

What the leadership of the health board is doing is disgusting. It is just the latest in a litany of shameful incidents, which has seen the leadership of the health board intimidate whistleblowers, engage in a cover-up and frustrate the efforts of grieving families who are looking for justice. However, instead of backing patients, Humza Yousaf, as the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, decided to take the board out of special measures and empower those who were responsible.

The culture of the board is rotten. It is so rotten that its director of communications allegedly thought that it was acceptable to say, of a father who was fighting for justice for his sick daughter, that he might have

“won the battle but he won’t win the war.”

Louise Slorance, John Cuddihy and other families like theirs have been treated with contempt, so I again ask the First Minister why he has confidence in the leadership of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

The First Minister:

As I said, I take the issues that Anas Sarwar raises, and—to his credit—has raised for many years, extremely seriously. That is why a public inquiry is under way, which

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the Scottish Government will co-operate with fully.

On whistleblowing, I make it clear, as I did in my previous role as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, that we do not just value the role that our whistleblowing champions play; we believe that their role is critical. I met the whistleblowing champion of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde—in fact, I have met the whistleblowing champions of every health board in the country. As First Minister, I reiterate and emphasise that any staff member in the NHS who has concerns should raise those issues through the appropriate processes. That should include feeling empowered to use the whistleblowing processes that exist.

Anas Sarwar will know that there is a process in place for de-escalation. Given that the overwhelming majority of the oversight recommendations were accepted, it was right to de-escalate NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde at the time. We will judge the board on the extent to which it steps up, accepts the recommendations and implements them. We will also fully co-operate with the public inquiry that is in place.

The First Minister talks about empowering patients. He is empowering the failed leadership of

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Louise Slorance’s husband died at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital and she has been fighting for answers for two years. Louise is in the gallery today, listening to our exchanges. Earlier, she told me:

“We cannot wait any longer. Empty words just don’t cut it. At the end of the day, the people who were in charge when Andrew and others lost their lives are still there. The people who created the problem, who covered up and lied to families aren’t going to be the ones to fix it.”

How much more do she and other families have to go through?

The First Minister does not need to wait for an inquiry to know that spying on families of dead patients is wrong; he simply needs to look to his conscience. Why will he not finally do the right thing and sack the rotten leadership of the board so that we can get a fresh start and justice for those families?

The First Minister:

As I said in response to Anas Sarwar’s first question, I look forward to meeting Louise Slorance and hearing directly from her in relation to the concerns that she has legitimately and rightly raised on a number of occasions. I hear the words that she has expressed to Anas Sarwar, which he has read out on her behalf, and I take them with the utmost seriousness.

In relation to the case of Andrew Slorance—again, I am happy to speak to Louise Slorance in detail about this—Anas Sarwar will be aware that we asked for an external peer review of the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde case by NHS Lothian. A determination was made after that case.

I have said already that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde will co-operate with the public inquiry, and we will continue to hold NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to account. I repeat and reiterate what I have said time and again, as health secretary and, now, as First Minister: if staff have concerns, I would expect them to raise those issues, without fear or favour, not just through the appropriate processes but through whistleblowing, where appropriate, as well.

I look forward to engaging with the Scottish Labour Party in relation to our Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill, which Labour and other parties are engaged with, so that we can enhance the rights of patients, not just in greater Glasgow and Clyde but right across the country.