Infection concerns over Scotland’s hospital buildings

Following a series of issues with infections at Scottish hospitals, MSPs have raised concerns that Scotland's hospitals are not being built to a high enough standard to tackle infections.

Holyrood's health committee has written Health Secretary Jeane Freeman noting concerns about cleaning, maintenance and testing, describing how it has heard evidence that infection control experts were ‘sidelined’ in the design of new hospitals, and that advice was ‘circumvented due to ignorance, time and resource implications’.

Amongst the concerns, the committee highlighted that ‘inadequate ventilation systems have been installed in new-build hospitals’ and that it had ‘been unable to glean’ whether there was a ‘proactive approach’ for testing for any other infections, aside from legionella.

A Scottish government spokesman said: "The recent infection incidents have had a devastating impact on the families involved and we sympathise with all those affected. That's why we are clear that all health boards must make infection prevention and control an absolute priority each and every day.

"There are robust measures in place across the NHS to prevent infections and other harms, and there have been substantial improvements made over the last decade in terms of a reduction in overall hospital infection rates across Scotland. Health Protection Scotland has developed national infection prevention and control policies, including mechanisms for escalation and management of outbreaks.

"They work in partnership with Health Facilities Scotland to ensure that good infection prevention and control is built into the design of new and existing healthcare premises, and based on the best available evidence."