Widow of a civil servant who died at a scandal-hit hospital requires NHS comms chief to be sacked

The widow of a civil servant who died at a scandal-hit hospital has called for an NHS communications chief to be sacked.

Louise Slorance said Sandra Bustillo was in charge when the health board spied on her social media account after she was critical of the care her late husband Andrew received.

The board carried out the ‘abhorrent’ snooping exercise – known as ‘social listening’ – at taxpayers’ expense amid allegations its failings led to the deaths of patients including Mr Slorance.

Mrs Slorance’s 49-year-old husband, who was a key part of Nicola Sturgeon’s team, died in December 2020 after testing positive for Covid while receiving cancer treatment.

His widow claims details about him also contracting a potentially deadly fungal infection were kept from his family.

She spoke out after NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) sensationally admitted last weekend that some of the infections suffered by patients were probably linked to the water system at the SNP’s flagship £1billion superhospital – the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow.

Communications director Ms Bustillo is said to have told her staff a concerned parent may have ‘won the battle but won’t win the war’ after he raised his concerns in the media.

Mrs Slorance, 49, who was spied on by NHSGGC after she began raising concerns following her husband’s death at the QEUH, said: ‘Sandra Bustillo was in charge of the NHS communications team during this whole scandal; she was responsible for the abhorrent communications to families which have been well-rehearsed during the public inquiry.

‘Not only that, she was responsible for NHSGGC spying on me, and spying on my dead husband’s social media accounts – then acting as if this was completely normal behaviour.

‘To discover that a health board used taxpayers’ money to pay for software that monitored everything I was saying online was horrifying, and sinister.

‘They seem to have monitored anyone who was critical of their practices or dared to ask questions about patients’ treatment.

‘She made a horrible comment about another family who were raising concerns, stating they might have “won the battle” but she would “win the war”.

‘What kind of way is that to speak about anyone who has gone through the level of trauma we have?

‘One of the acknowledgements during the public inquiry has been that the communications of NHSGGC has completely failed.

‘Sandra Bustillo clearly is not fit to hold the important job she has, and if NHSGGC is serious about changing the culture it should start by removing her from her job.’

A former colleague of Ms Bustillo’s told the Mail: ‘It was a horrible environment to work in under Sandra.

‘With everything going on it felt like we were constantly fire-fighting but the unprofessionalism, the comments being made… about whistleblowers, about anyone who dared to challenge NHSGGC’s sanctioned version of events was completely unacceptable.

‘Personal comments and snide remarks were made regularly about anyone who challenged the narrative.

‘There was the social listening as well, sanctioned by Sandra, which she wants to paint as something every organisation does but they do not monitor individual patients and their families on social media.

‘It was completely wrong and I was glad when it was exposed.

‘Someone in her job should have integrity and put truth and honesty at the heart of everything.

‘That did not happen.’

The health board admitted that it had been secretly monitoring social media posts about water contamination through a private firm which was paid £15,000.

The online checks were carried out by a company called Meltwater, through a £15,000-a-year contract.

According to official figures back in 2023, staff salaries for the corporate communications team at the board were at least £620,000.

Roles include director of communications, deputy director, public affairs, senior communications, web development and graphic design.

The highest-paid staff in the team earned up to £98,384.

Ms Bustillo was appointed as director of communications and public engagement for NHSGGC in February 2020, having previously held the roles of deputy director and head of communications for North Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust.

She began her career with Greater Glasgow Health Board in 1992 as a graduate management trainee and has over 30 years’ experience in NHS communications.

A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: ‘We want to reassure all members of the public that NHSGGC does not conduct social media listening, although we acknowledge this was historically used, for which we subsequently apologised.

‘In our closing statements we have acknowledged issues with past culture and communication and we are committed to learning and continuing to improve our approach.

‘We have outlined the significant improvements undertaken as an organisation during this time to improve governance and oversight, and that issues are being addressed both proactively and reactively, and in a timely manner.

‘We encourage any employee to get in touch directly to discuss concerns they may have to allow us to address these directly.

‘It would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this time while the inquiry is ongoing.’