A mother and father whose baby died at a scandal-hit hospital say they feel ‘vindicated’ – after a senior NHS official they claim offered them a £20,000 ‘bribe’ quit her high-profile quango job.
Theresa and Matthew Smith’s daughter Sophia died in 2017 after contracting an infection at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow.
Last month the couple claimed that, when they raised concerns about their baby’s death, Fiona McQueen – who was Scotland’s Chief Nursing Officer at the time but later became chair of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) – offered them cash and to arrange a holiday for them and their other children and ‘give them an ice cream to cheer them up’.
Less than a month after the parents’ sensational accusation in The Scottish Mail on Sunday, Ms McQueen announced she was stepping down from her new role.
Last night Mrs Smith welcomed her decision. She said: ‘Because of the way our family was treated, I believe Fiona McQueen is not fit for public office.
‘No apology, no resignation, and certainly no bribe could ever make up for the loss of a child.’
Theresa and Mathew Smith ‘s daughter Sophia died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in 2017
Although it was hailed as a superhospital when it opened in 2015, the QEUH is subject to an ongoing public inquiry looking at high levels of infection and the death of patients.
In January, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde admitted – after years of denials – that contaminated water had probably caused serious infections in young cancer patients.
Sophia was born in the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley but was transferred to the Royal Hospital for Children at the QEUH campus, due to breathing problems.
However, she then contracted a rare bloodstream infection which developed into sepsis. She died in April 2017, less than a fortnight after she was born.
After Mr and Mrs Smith raised concerns about their daughter’s care, they say they were phoned by Ms McQueen.
Mrs Smith, 45, said: ‘She apologised and said she was going to have to ask me to go through what happened to Sophia. I poured my heart out to her. She then asked if we were “litigation-minded” and started saying things about how a baby’s life is worth less than an adult, because an adult has a job, a mortgage, a spouse and children…
‘She said if you did go the litigation route, you’d only get up to – and kept emphasising “up to” – £20,000.
‘I said we didn’t want money. She said “Yeah, but you know, we could help you, we’ll organise for you to take the kids on a nice holiday and £20,000. They can have some ice cream, and that will cheer them up.”’
The Smiths later emailed Ms McQueen saying: ‘We feel that this was inappropriate to discuss such things with us.’
In response, Ms McQueen apologised and said: ‘I have clearly misjudged our conversation; with the issue of money being put in the context of you indicating that you wanted answers and were not minded to take forwards litigation.’
Ms McQueen retired as Chief Nursing Officer in 2021 but was appointed as chair of the SPA last year.
Fiona McQueen stepped down from her role at the Scottish Police Authority for ‘personal reasons’
Last week it announced she had ‘stepped down with immediate effect for personal and family reasons’.
Mrs Smith said in her opinion Ms McQueen’s resignation ‘is tantamount to an admission of guilt and shows the seriousness of the failures that occurred’.
‘I feel vindicated that we finally were able to speak out about what happened to us, to Sophia, and Fiona McQueen has now gone,’ she added.
A spokesman for Ms McQueen has previously said she ‘strongly refutes any suggestions that she offered the Smiths money or a holiday’.
Last night the SPA said it had nothing to add. Ms McQueen was approached for comment.