Medical Physicist Claims 15 Years of Safety Warnings Ignored at Glasgow Hospital
Published on 08/16/2026 at 17:37 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
A medical physicist has told the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry that he raised repeated alarms about infrastructure and safety failures at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus for 15 years without receiving a formal response.
Dr. Michael Bradnam gave testimony detailing long-standing concerns over ventilation systems, electrical safety, and humidity levels at the Glasgow facility. According to his statements to the inquiry, professional warnings about these critical issues were systematically overlooked by health board officials for more than a decade.
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Repeated Warnings Overlooked
The inquiry examined specific Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (SBAR) reports submitted by Dr. Bradnam to document ongoing risks. A report filed in 2020 highlighted significant deficiencies in the hospital's ventilation systems, noting that some areas were only achieving two to three air changes per hour despite a requirement for 15 changes.
Further formal documentation was submitted in subsequent years, including an electrical safety report in 2024 and a report regarding humidity concerns in 2025. Dr. Bradnam told the inquiry that despite flagging these multiple issues to health bosses, he did not receive formal feedback or see adequate corrective actions taken in response to his findings.
Investigation Into Patient Deaths
The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry was originally established in 2019 following the deaths of four patients at the site. The scope of the investigation has since expanded, with seven deaths currently under scrutiny to determine if hospital environment issues contributed to patient outcomes.
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Police Scotland has recently submitted a prosecution report to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service concerning the deaths of four individuals. The report includes the cases of 10-year-old Milly Main and 73-year-old Gail Armstrong.
Systemic Pressures in Scottish Healthcare
The testimony comes amid broader scrutiny of the Scottish healthcare system. Recent figures from the summer months indicate that NHS Ayrshire and Arran struggled to meet emergency department targets, with just over half of patients seen within the four-hour window in June. Data showed that acute bed occupancy reached 92.9% and nearly 300 patients experienced delayed discharges in May.
While the QEUH inquiry remains focused on infrastructure and infection control, these wider regional statistics highlight the operational pressures facing the National Health Service as the inquiry continues to evaluate historical safety failures at the Glasgow campus.
