Infection incident closes ward at Monklands hospital as patients warned over tap water

EXCLUSIVE: NHS bosses were forced to act after traces of aspergillus mould were discovered at the haematology unit at Monklands hospital in Airdrie.

An infection incident forced the closure of a ward for seriously ill patients at a second major Scots hospital, the Record can reveal.

NHS bosses in Lanarkshire were forced to act after traces of aspergillus mould were discovered at the haematology unit at Monklands hospital in Airdrie.

Patients were moved as a precaution from ward 16 at the hospital in 2022 to the adjacent ward 15 while remedial works were carried out. But the refurbishment has yet to be finished – and fresh infection concerns have since been raised within the temporary replacement ward.

The Record understands new fears were raised about mould in ward 15 in November last year but staff were only informed in recent weeks. Patients have since been advised to not use tap water to brush their teeth.

The Scottish Government said an Incident Management Team has monitored infections in the ward but it was stood down last week.

A whistleblower told the Record that refurbishment works were halted on ward 16 three years ago and had only resumed in recent months.

Wards have previously been closed at the £1bn Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow due to an infection scandal which has rocked Holyrood.

John Swinney has repeatedly denied the health campus was rushed open in 2015 despite fears from health bosses it was not ready to do so.

The Monklands infection outbreak comes amid continued uncertainty about the future of the current hospital, which has been open since 1977 and is due to be replaced.

Plans were submitted last year by NHS bosses to build a new facility at Wester Moffatt but have yet to be signed off by the SNP Government.

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The current hospital lies in the Airdrie & Shotts constituency which is being contested by SNP Health Secretary Neil Gray at May’s election.

Kieron Higgins, Scottish Labour candidate for the neighbouring Coatbridge & Chryston constituency, said: “This is absolutely appalling.

“While SNP ministers like John Swinney and Neil Gray were falsely assuring people that Glasgow’s £1 billion super hospital was safe, there was a separate infection issue in the blood cancer ward at Monklands Hospital, in the Health Secretary’s own backyard.

“This is completely unacceptable and the SNP need to explain why they kept this quiet. Politics and PR must never come before patient safety.

“Our NHS doesn’t belong to SNP ministers and it doesn’t belong to senior managers. It belongs to patients, staff, their families, and all of us.

“This is just a latest example of SNP secrecy in our health service and why Scotland needs change.”

Christina Coulombe, director of infection prevention at NHS Lanarkshire, insisted patient safety “has remained our priority” as remedial work continues to bring ward 16 back up to standard.

“We have been carrying out work on environmental issues affecting haematology inpatient areas at University Hospital Monklands,” she said.

“This has been managed in line with national infection prevention and control guidance. An Incident Management Team to support this work was established on November 12, 2025, and has since been stood down on March 27. We provided regular updates to Antimicrobial Resistance & Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland.

“Patient safety has remained our priority. Where issues have been identified, appropriate infection prevention and control measures have been put in place. Remedial work is underway to allow ward 16 to reopen once it meets all required standards.”

Neil Gray, the Health Secretary, said: “As NHS Lanarkshire has already made clear, this issue was dealt with by expert clinicians at Monklands and thanks to their efforts this incident was stepped down last week. The SNP Government’s budget in February – which Labour didn’t even bother to vote for- progresses the replacement of Monklands hospital.

“Anas Sarwar and the Labour party should know better- they’ve been caught out lying about the QEUH and to now try and scaremonger over an incident closed and handled safely by our NHS professionals shows just how desperate they are.”

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