HEALTH bosses have launched legal action against the private contractor which led the construction of Glasgow’s flagship hospital. 

Jane Grant, the chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, confirmed last night that lawyers had been instructed to prepare a case against Brookfield Multiplex after Board members were urged to back the move “as a matter of urgency”.

She said internal reviews had identified “a number of issues we are determined to resolve”.

It comes after a string of infection scandals at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and the adjacent Royal Hospital for Children, which both opened in 2015. 

READ MORE: From Wembley stadium to an Edinburgh children's hospital - the legal dramas of Brookfield Multiplex

Since then remedial work and upgrades have had to be made to the buildings’ ventilation design, while leaked reports from 2015 have also exposed concerns over a risk of bacterial contamination in the water supply before patients were admitted. 

Solicitors from MacRoberts LLP will now raise court proceedings against Brookfield Multiplex on behalf of NHS GGC. 

Ms Grant said: “Patients, families and staff deserve the QEUH and RHC to be a safe and welcoming environment where the highest standard of person centred care will be delivered.

“However, since its opening, a number of issues have arisen around the operational effectiveness of the hospital which have impacted on the seamless delivery of safe and effective healthcare. I am sorry for the distress this has caused.

“I am fully committed to resolving these issues and alongside the rest of the NHS Board, will address these in a fully transparent and open manner.”

Ms Grant said a clinical review had found a 97 per cent satisfaction rate among patients treated in the hospitals, while a separate review into capacity found that the volume of patients passing through the QEUH exceeded original expectations. 

She said they had developed an improvement plan to “help address these issues and enhance patient flows”. 

However, Ms Grant added that a third ‘facilities and environment’ review, which addressed concerns raised about the buildings at the QEUH and RHC, would not now be published until court proceedings are concluded. 

She said: “Having sought independent legal advice, we can confirm the Board today has agreed to pursue legal action.

"In light of this, the report we commissioned on facilities and environmental impact cannot be published as this would potentially cause significant prejudice to NHSGGC. 

“We will however publish the report when it is possible, but at the moment we are unable to comment any further on legal proceedings.”

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A spokesman for Brookfield Multiplex declined to comment, saying the firm has not yet been notified of any court proceedings. 

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: “This is a significant development and is confirmation of the very serious concerns over the design and fabric of the building at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.”

The Glasgow  superhospital has been in the spotlight since the deaths of two cancer patients aged 10 and 73 in December 2018 and January this year who had contracted an infection linked to pigeon droppings.

It is believed the fungus may have been transmitted through the ventilation system.

This followed a string of infections linked to the water supply among paediatric cancer patients, eventually leading to the closure of wards 2A and 2B of the children’s hospital. 

In November it emerged that a 10-year-old leukaemia patient, Milly Main, had died in the RHC unit in August 2017 after developing toxic shock when her Hickman line became infected with the bacteria Stenotrophomas. 

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has commissioned a public inquiry into the building of the QEUH campus and the delayed Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh, also built by Brookfield Multiplex. 

READ MORE: Mother of Milly Main says her daughter would be alive if hospital bosses had acted on contamination reports 

A last-minute inspection found that critical care ventilation at the RHCYP did not meet safety requirements. A probe traced the problem back to an error in the original design blueprint distributed to bidders by NHS Lothian in 2012.

Miles Briggs, the Scottish Conservative health spokesman, said the legal action was “another depressing twist in a sorry saga”, but added that NHS Lothian – which is paying £1.35 million a month in management fees while the RHCYP lies empty –“should not rule out similar action”.

Mr Briggs said: “Millions of pounds that could have been gone into lifesaving treatments and reducing waiting times is being lost every month because of this fiasco.”