CRITICS have hit out at Scotland’s Health Secretary after she insisted infection control is good enough at a hospital where a child died after inhaling fungus linked to pigeon droppings.

The Scottish Tories branded Jeane Freeman’s comments “absolutely astonishing” in the wake of the incident at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

It comes after Ms Freeman confirmed a child died at the end of last year as a result of an infection caused by the fungus Cryptococcus, which is found in pigeon droppings. Another patient was diagnosed with the condition, but their death the following month was said to be unrelated.

In an interview on BBC Good Morning Scotland, Ms Freeman was asked: "Do you believe infection control is good enough at this hospital?"

She replied: "Yes I do. Yes I do and I think the statistics show that. The overall infection rate in the Queen Elizabeth is 4 per cent, the average across Scotland is 4.9%. It is at least on par with all the other hospitals across Scotland and in fact doing a bit better.

"But infection happens in hospitals. That's why we have the Scottish Patient Safety Programme that has significantly reduced infection rates across our hospitals and healthcare settings over the last 10 years or so.

"What you need to be able to do though is have those additional infection control measures to put in place as they have done at the Queen Elizabeth, with the HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filters, with the anti-fungal protection for particularly vulnerable patients in the area where the Cryptococcus infection was discovered."

Yesterday, Ms Freeman announced a probe into the design, construction, handover and maintenance of the flagship £842 million Queen Elizabeth, amid widespread concerns the quality of the building is “less than satisfactory”.

The Scottish Tories said maintenance staff at the health board have been significantly reduced in recent years.

Analysis of figures shows there was an 11.5% cut in maintenance and estate workers in the two years to September 2018.

And the ISD Scotland data states, at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the numbers have reduced by 18.6 per cent since 2009.

Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said: “Only now, after this scandal has been brought to light, is the SNP reviewing maintenance at Glasgow’s super hospital.

“For Jeane Freeman to say infection control at the hospital is adequate is absolutely astonishing, particularly in the wake of two deaths, one of whom was a child.

“That’s a complacent attitude, and one which simply won’t cut it with patients or staff.

“The big question is why ministers are failing to stop things like this happening in the first place, and why it takes a scandal like this for them to act.

“In Glasgow alone, dozens of maintenance staff have been cut in recent years in the lead up to this scandal.

“Across Scotland, patients will look at the nationwide reduction and wonder what other desperate consequences these SNP cuts could have.

“With that in mind, is it any wonder that – more than a month after a patient has died - we are still seeing rooms plastered in pigeon droppings?”

Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman Monica Lennon said the review announced by Ms Freeman suggests "something has gone very wrong”.

She said: "At the centre of this are two patients, including a child, who have died as a result of these infections so it is important the government is honest about the challenges it is facing.

"The Health Secretary says infection rates are on a par with other hospitals in Scotland, but this is supposed to be a world leading hospital.

"Today we see reports of furniture covered in filth at the hospital, apparently left for months - that simply should not be happening.”

Pigeon droppings found in a plant room on the hospital's roof are believed to be the source of the infection, with investigations continuing to establish how the bacteria entered a closed ventilation system.

The issue comes after problems with bacteria in the water supply at the adjoining Royal Hospital for Children last year which led to child cancer patients being moved.