Half of Scottish health boards reporting hospital sewage leaks

Scottish Liberal Democrats and the i newspaper have today revealed almost 200 sewage leaks in Scottish hospitals in the past four years as the party continued its campaign to clean up Scotland and press for an overhaul of Scotland’s Victorian sewage system.

Freedom of information requests submitted by the party reveal that since 2019:

• 7 health boards have reported sewage leaks in hospitals (Ayrshire & Arran, Fife, Forth Valley, Grampian, Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Lanarkshire and Lothian).
• A total of 196 sewage leaks in hospitals have been reported, with 105 of these occurring at the University Hospital Monklands in Lanarkshire.
• There have been four sewage leaks at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

Commenting on the figures, Scottish Liberal Democrat communities spokesperson Willie Rennie said:

“Fresh on the heels of revelations that the SNP allowed sewage to leak into our waterways more than 14,000 times last year, it has now emerged that there have been sewage leaks at our hospitals too.

“This will be worrying news for patients across Scotland but particularly those who rely on the Monklands hospital. I hope that health boards will be able to offer assurances that these issues have been addressed and will not happen again.

“The Scottish Government seem to be adrift without a plan. They must urgently work with regulators to upgrade Scotland's Victorian sewage systems and prevent incidents like these."