A criminal investigation has been launched into the death of 10-year-old Milly Main at a children’s cancer ward.

Police have been instructed by the Crown Office amid claims by the late child’s mum that her daughter’s death amounted to “murder”.

The Crown confirmed the probe is focusing on the deaths of three children, including Milly, and a 73-year-old woman at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital ( QUEH ) in Glasgow.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who has fought for justice for Milly’s family, said the police probe was a “very welcome and overdue development”.

He added: “I have long argued that had this scandal occurred in the private sector, there would have been a criminal investigation.

“This is so serious it must be considered as corporate homicide.”

The QUEH opened in 2015 and has been dogged by patient safety scandals over its water supply.

As revealed by the Daily Record, a whistleblower contacted Sarwar about water-linked infections in children in QUEH cancer wards in 2017.

The insider claimed one of the children with cancer had died after contracting an infection and it later emerged the victim was Milly.

The 10-year-old was a patient at the Royal Hospital for Children, which is part of the QEUH campus, and had been in remission from leukaemia when her catheter became infected..

An official probe concluded Milly had “probably” died after catching a water-linked infection at the hospital in 2017

It added: “The fact that Milly had been ­continuously an inpatient in Ward 2A for seven weeks prior to this infection, also suggests hospital environmental acquisition.”

Police carried out a sudden death investigation and issued a report to the Crown Office.

A criminal probe is now underway into the death of Milly and others who passed away at the hospital.

A spokesperson for the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said: “The procurator fiscal has received reports in connection with the deaths of three children and a 73-year-old woman at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus, Glasgow.

“The investigation into the deaths is ongoing and the families will continue to be kept updated in relation to any significant developments.”

It is understood the investigation received a report from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which looked at the building and systems at the QUEH.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “COPFS has asked Police Scotland to investigate a number of deaths at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus, Glasgow.

“Our investigation is at a very early stage, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

The revelation comes days after Milly’s mum Kimberly Darroch gave powerful evidence to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry about her daughter’s death.

The Inquiry is investigating the construction of the QEUH campus in Glasgow and a hospital in Edinburgh.

In a statement read out this week, Kimberly said of the QEUH: “My view is that the hospital should be closed. I don’t think it’s safe.

“I feel like the health board need to be punished for all of this. In my eyes, what happened to my daughter is murder.”

She added: “We have never discussed the infection with the hospital, at the time, or in the aftermath of my daughter’s death.”

“I saw the stenotrophomonas infection on the death certificate and I had never heard of it before.

“I Googled it and saw it was an infection found in water, but I never thought anything untoward.

“Maybe I should have at that point, but I had just lost my daughter and I trusted everyone in the hospital.

“I didn’t expect an infection found in water to have killed my daughter. I didn’t ask any questions at that point.

“There was no further information from the hospital about my daughter’s death.”

Kimberly told of how she read articles about child deaths linked to water contamination at the hospital.

She said: “I instantly knew that the child they were talking about in the press was my daughter.”

“After all the information appeared in the press, no-one from the hospital contacted me.”

She told the Inquiry: “I feel really let down by the hospital. My daughter didn’t need to die.

“When she was in hospital, we kept getting told that we needed to keep her clean.

“I would have been happy for her to have been dirty if it meant saving her life.”

She added: “Since the link between the water and my daughter’s infection all came out, I think that the hospital has been burying its head and hoping it all goes away.

“They’re not communicating with the families at all.

“Their communication, or lack of communication, is absolutely shocking.”

Sarwar said: “Children have died, parents have been kept in the dark, and nobody has been held accountable.

“I hope this police investigation gets to the bottom of what went so tragically wrong, and families get the answers and justice they deserve.”

A spokesperson for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which runs the QEUH, said: “We are aware of early inquiries by Police Scotland into these cases but it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.”

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