The Scottish Conservatives have called for the health secretary to resign amid claims of a “cover up” surrounding the death of a young cancer patient from an infection linked to contaminated water at Glasgow’s flagship hospital.
Jeane Freeman was warned she faced “serious questions” about the link between bacteria in the water at the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) and the child's death.
READ MORE: Health minister Jeane Freeman says she knew about child's hospital death
It was initially suggested First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was not told the truth about the incident, however Ms Freeman said the Scottish government had known about the case.
Two wards at the RHC were closed last September and patients moved to the adjoining Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) as Health Protection Scotland (HPS) investigated water contamination incidents.
Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs has now called on Ms Freeman to stand down over the incident, describing it as “completely unacceptable”.
Mr Briggs said: “There’s no way Jeane Freeman can continue in the role now the details of this case have been made clear.”
“It should not take a whistleblower and an opposition MSP to drag the truth out of this SNP government.”
READ MORE: Child cancer patient 'died with infection' while being treated at Glasgow children's hospital
“It’s completely unacceptable. Patients will be absolutely furious that such a serious failure has been covered up by this SNP government.”
He added: “The health secretary must apologise to the family and resign or, if she refuses, be sacked.”
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