Children have died, adults have died and families are grieving. I say to Emma Harper: hard-working staff did come forward and share their concerns, but they were bullied, ignored and let down.

This is the worst scandal in the current session of the Scottish Parliament, but it could so easily have been avoided. I take members back to December 2007, when at least 143 patients contracted clostridium difficile at the Vale of Leven hospital. C diff was found to be a contributory factor in at least 34 of those patients’ deaths. Just like in the Queen Elizabeth university hospital, those patients went into hospital expecting to get better, but they never came out.

The families rightly campaigned for a public inquiry, and the inquiry that was chaired by Lord MacLean published its report in November 2014, six months before the Queen Elizabeth university hospital opened. The report made a series of recommendations on everything from governance to the management of infection control. The tragedy that affected so many of my constituents at the Vale of Leven could have been avoided, and that is also so true for the Queen Elizabeth university hospital.

The Scottish Government said at the time that lessons would be learned. However, six months later, it opened a new hospital when it was clearly not safe to do so, and the consequences have been devastating. The Scottish Government accepted responsibility for what happened at the Vale of Leven, stating:

“we apologise unreservedly for the suffering and loss caused. We accept in full all of the report’s recommendations.”

The statement continued:

“we can ensure structures and mechanisms are in place to make sure that what happened at the VOLH does not happen anywhere else in future.”

A month after that comment, in February 2015, I questioned the then Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport, Shona Robison, at the Health and Sport Committee. I asked her whether, in light of the Vale of Leven hospital inquiry report, an independent audit of the Queen Elizabeth university hospital had been carried out. That was a recommendation that the Government had accepted. After some pressing, she said:

“If it has not taken place, it will. We will check that.”—[Official Report, Health and Sport Committee, 24 February 2015; c 32.]

In April 2015, just before the Queen Elizabeth university hospital opened, Shona Robison wrote to me claiming that there was no need for an independent audit or to follow the MacLean recommendation because there was robust monitoring and reporting in place. There was even a risk register. Will the cabinet secretary tell us whether the risk register identified any of the problems with water or ventilation that existed at the time? I suspect not. Had Shona Robison commissioned the independent audit, as recommended by the MacLean inquiry that the Government was so keen to learn lessons from, we would not be debating the issue today, and families would not be grieving the loss of loved ones.

Was it criminal negligence or incompetence? There is no getting away from the fact that senior Government ministers chose not to have the new hospital inspected, which had deadly consequences. The MacLean report also recommended robust reporting systems for infection monitoring.

At that same committee hearing in 2015, Shona Robison told me:

“I get alerted straight away about C diff cases or any other infection in hospitals in Glasgow, in Clyde or elsewhere, because the monitoring systems work.”—[Official Report, Health and Sport Committee, 24 February 2015; c 27.]

I know that, because it was one of the issues arising from the C diff outbreak at the Vale of Leven. Whenever a healthcare infection incident assessment tool—otherwise known as a HIIAT—is red, the cabinet secretary is automatically notified. In June 2017, when a HIIAT red warning was issued at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital, Shona Robison would have been informed. What did she do?

In January 2018, such was the complacency that Shona Robison accused Anas Sarwar of talking down the hospital. This is what she said:

“It is outrageous that he is talking down our first class state-of-the-art hospital”. —[Official Report, 24 January 2018; c 12.]

She had the HIIAT report six months earlier, she misled the Parliament, and children had already died. Again, I have to ask: was it criminal negligence or was it incompetence?

From the moment that the Queen Elizabeth university hospital opened, it was clear to those with knowledge of infection control that the water and ventilation systems were not adequate. Brave doctors risked their careers to raise their concerns, but they were bullied, sidelined and ignored.

The health board has now admitted that it opened the hospital too early because pressure was applied. Shortly before John Swinney appeared on national TV, the health board clarified that it was internal pressure. Really? If you know anything about the relationship between the health board and the Scottish Government, you know that the pressure would have been external to the health board; it would have come from ministers, or civil servants on behalf of ministers. I therefore repeat the question that Anas Sarwar asked at the beginning of the debate: who applied that pressure? We need answers from the Government.

In April 2015, when the hospital opened, we were weeks away from a general election—what a coincidence. For months in advance of that, ministers boasted in the chamber that it was a flagship Scottish Government project. Now, it has nothing to do with them; it is the health board’s fault.

I have been around here for a long time, so I know that the SNP Government has a fondness for announcements—every Government does—and we have seen that. Stephen Kerr was right to remind us that it was Nicola Sturgeon who launched a ferry with painted-on windows that is yet to sail. In this case, a hospital was opened too early, and people died.

Let me say to the cabinet secretary: stop the secrecy, and release all the documentation that covered political decision making. Most important of all, the cabinet secretary must also ensure the safety of the hospital today—because we know that not all of the hospital has been validated as safe. Counsel to the inquiry, Fred Mackintosh, urged the health board to act now, and not to wait for the findings of the inquiry. It would therefore be a gross dereliction of duty on the part of the cabinet secretary to risk patient safety: he needs to act on that now.

I am grateful to the First Minister for joining us, because if the cabinet secretary will not act, will the First Minister do so? We owe it to the families, the hard-working staff, and future patients.

I urge members to support the Labour motion and the amendments from the Greens and the Conservatives, but to reject the SNP amendment, which is about doing nothing, and continuing the secrecy and cover up.