Scotland’s largest health board are likely to face corporate homicide charges into the deaths of three children and an adult, the Sunday Mail can reveal. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have been named as a formal suspect in a criminal investigation which could lead to the first-ever prosecution case of its kind in Scotland.

One of the four patients involved is 10-year-old schoolgirl Milly Main who was treated at the troubled Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus for cancer and contracted a water based infection that has been linked to issues with the building.

Last night, Milly’s mum Kimberly Darroch said: “I’ve been told about this development and we believe it’s a step in the right direction and we are taking time as a family to reflect on it.”

Kimberly, from Lanark, previously told a public inquiry her daughter’s death was “murder”. If the health board are found guilty in a jury trial, the board faces an unlimited fine in what would be the first prosecution of its kind in Scotland.

And it could also open the door for individual bosses or senior staff to be prosecuted. Milly and the three other patients who died at the hospital were a 73-year-old, three-year-old boy and an unnamed 10-year-old boy.

All were receiving treatment for cancer at the QEUH campus when they contracted rare infections and died. Milly was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2012 and died on August 31, 2017 after contracting stenotrophomonas - a bacteria found in water.

Kimberly, 39, said she hadn’t been aware of the infection which contributed to Milly’s death until after she died. A review later found that the infection was likely linked to the hospital and stated: “Based on the information available to us we considered that this infection was probably related to the hospital environment.”

Police have been investigating the deaths since 2021 and a public inquiry is ongoing into major infection problems linked to the construction of the £842m Glasgow hospital which opened ahead of schedule in April 2015.

NHSGGC chiefs only informed board members of the developments yesterday after the Sunday Mail asked them about it. Members were told the new ‘suspect’ status was in relation to the investigation into the deaths of four patients at the QEUH campus.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the “full force of the law” must now be brought to ensure nobody else, including the family of Milly, suffers.

He said: “It has taken four years to get this far and what Kimberly has been told by the police could mean we are now one step closer to getting justice for Milly.

“Throughout this entire ordeal, Kimberly and all those who lost loved ones have shown extraordinary courage, while the health board engaged in denial and cover-up. To this day, nobody has been held to account for what went so tragically wrong.

“I long argued that had this scandal occurred in the private sector, there would have been a criminal investigation. I hope the full force of the law is used so that no family ever again has to go through what Milly’s family have been through.”

Ian Moir, solicitor and partner at law firm Moir & Sweeney, said the move to label NHSGGC as a suspect was unprecedented. He said: “It is unlikely this step would be taken unless the police felt they had grounds to pursue the case.

“A corporate homicide prosecution is not something that has been seen often at all. It’s a very unusual step. It’s rarely used and I don’t think has ever been used in Scotland so that gives you some idea of the significance of the step that’s been taken, and it’s not something that authorities will do lightly.”

Moir said if the health board was found guilty of corporate homicide it means prosecutions against individual bosses or staff.

He said: “Prosecutors wouldn’t necessarily have to wait for a conviction to happen either. If, in the course of the preparation for any trial for this charge, it becomes apparent that they want to charge individuals they wouldn’t need to wait for a conviction to do that. Evidence may become available that could justify those individual proceedings.”

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “The Crown and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) asked Police Scotland to investigate a number of deaths at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus, Glasgow. Our investigation is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

A Crown Office spokeswoman said she was unable to comment on communications with families or on live investigations.

An NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokesman said: “Our sympathies remain with the families who have been affected by events at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and Royal Hospital for Children. We have received a communication from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) about this update to the status of their ongoing inquiry.”

The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry was ordered by former health secretary Jeane Freeman after dozens of patients became sick and some died at the QEUH since it opened in 2015.

Whistleblowers raised concerns about the construction of the hospital and Freeman halted the opening of a children’s facility in Edinburgh on the back of the Glasgow scandal in 2019.

The inquiry started in 2020 looking at the construction of both hospitals and will restart hearings into the Glasgow site next year.

The Sunday Mail revealed in July that NHSGGC staff were warned not to hand over documents to police if they were interviewed as part of the probe.

A ‘frequently asked questions’ document prepared for employees advised them not to take notes or documents to interviews in case they were seized by officers.

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