HEALTH bosses have been accused of keeping their own board members “in the dark” about a deadly pigeon infection at Scotland's flagship hospital. 

The Scottish Government were notified of the crisis at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow before Christmas, but a non-executive member of the health board - who spoke to the Herald on condition of anonymity - said he knew nothing of the problem until it was made public in an official statement on January 18. 

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Former health secretary Alex Neil said there had been a "major failure of governance" at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and urged its board members to submit formal complaints. 

NHS GGC insisted that members of the Acute Services Committee were briefed verbally "at the first available committee meeting on 15 January". 

There was no mention of the issue in writing anywhere in the meeting's agenda, however, and it was not discussed either publicly or privately at the most recent full board meeting on December 18 - by which time two patients had died.

The board member said: "Board members were briefed on the situation this week, but it had never been raised during any board meetings. 

"The big question is why has it taken so long to find out about this problem. Why has the Clinical Governance committee not been made aware of this issues before now? As a board member, I'm still quite in the dark about it."

Read more: Probe launched into superhospital after child with pigeon fungus infection dies

It comes as it emerged that one of the patients who died after contracting, Cryptococcus, an airborne fungus linked to pigeon droppings, is a child with cancer who had been moved to the adult hospital after a separate bacterial outbreak was detected in the water supply at the adjacent children's hospital. 

The cryptococcal infection was described as a "contributing factor" in the child's death in December. 
An elderly patient who tested positive for the cryptococcal infection in November has also died, although the cause of death was said to be "unrelated" to the pigeon bug. 

SNP MSP Alex Neil, who served as the Scottish Government's Health Secretary from 2012 to 2014, said: "Board members should have been informed right away. This is a major failure of governance by Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board. 

"For something as serious as this they should have been informed ahead of time, even if they weren't meeting.

"Too often we see in health boards people who are on the board being bypassed or not properly informed or timeously informed about when something is happening and clearly that is what has happened in this case. 

"It's totally unacceptable and I believe that every board member on that committee should be making a formal complaint about this utter failure in governance."

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On Tuesday, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman announced a probe into the £900 million 'superhospital' covering both the pigeon infection and any potential issues with the building itself, which opened in 2015. 

Labour's shadow health secretary, Monica Lennon, added: "If health board members were kept in the dark about the crisis hanging over the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, what chance does the public have of feeling confident and well informed.

"What else is shrouded in secrecy? The Health Secretary and NHSGGC should be rebuilding public confidence so it’s worrying that board members themselves are feeling out of the loop.”

A second board member told the Herald that she wanted to know why there had been a delay. 

She said: "It took an unusually long time for us to be told so I don't know exactly what's been going on. I would expect to be told sooner.

"It's possible they didn't have enough information to tell us. When these things happen we normally get an opportunity to ask questions and find out what steps are being taken, but we don't normally get information until they've got enough to tell us. 

"I wouldn't say I feel angry about how it's been handled - but I do have some questions about the timing of things."

A spokesman for NHS GGC said: "The Chairman of the Board was informed within 24 hours and members of the acute Services Committee were briefed at the first available committee meeting on 15 January and this was followed up a further email briefing to all Board members on the evening of Friday 18 January."