A CHILD with cancer died from an infection contracted from the water supply at Glasgow new children's hospital, it has been reported.

It is claimed that the patient, who was treated at the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC), died in 2017.

MSP Anas Sarwar told the Daily Record newspaper that he had only become aware of the child's death after being contacted by a whistleblower at the hospital.

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Mr Sarwar said he was told that a doctor-led investigation had uncovered the infection link, but that the child's parents were not told.

The paediatric cancer wards at the RHC - wards 2A/2B - have been closed since September 2018 following a string of infections.

They are not expected to re-open until at least March 2020.

A report by Health Protection Scotland found "widespread contamination" in the water supply at both the RHC and the adjacent Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, and said that a total of 23 children had fallen ill with bloodstream infections between February 2016 and September 2018 - 21 of them between January and September 2018.

Following that official Health Protection Scotland report, it is claimed that an internal clinician-led probe by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde identified up to 26 cases of water supply infection among children with cancer - including a child who died in 2017.

Mr Sarwar said: "I have had information shared with me which shows that senior managers have been repeatedly alerted to the fact that a previous review failed to include cases of infection related to the water supply in 2017.

"Central to this whistleblowing evidence is that one child died and, to this day, the parents have never been told the true cause of their child's death.

"That isn't just a scandal, it is a heartbreaking tragedy."

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NHSGGC said their priority was the safety of patients and that all cases of infection were rigorously reviewed.

They added that senior clinical staff had completed an additional clinical review of the cases from 2017 in July this year and that no further action was required.

The Crown Office is investigating the deaths in December 2018 and January 2019 of two cancer patients - a 10-year-old boy, and woman aged 73 - who had contracted an infection linked to pigeon droppings while being treated at the QEUH.