NO record was made of a meeting where top NHS executives discussed changing the name of Scotland's largest hospital, it has emerged.

Health board NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde says minutes were not taken when proposals about rebranding the then South Glasgow University Hospital were discussed.

There are also no records of attempts to "gauge the views and comments" of 12 senior doctors and nurses about a plan to rename the building the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, according to the health board.

Papers were submitted to board members about the original name and minutes reflect the discussion which ensued.

However, our sister paper The Herald reports in response to a request under Freedom of Information legislation about the rebranding process, NHS GGC said: "There are no records held for the meetings and discussions as in your request as they were informal meetings."

The renaming of the £842m hospital after the Queen has been the subject of ongoing controversy.

An online petition calling for the new name to be dropped has attracted 13,238 supporters.

It reads: "Considering the fundamental principle of monarchy is superiority of the monarch and their family over everyone else in society, we feel the naming of a public building after such a person is unacceptable."

Others have criticised the expense of the rebrand with plaques alone costing £51,000 and altering signage estimated at £1,650 so far with more bills to be calculated. One independent bus company also said it was having to spend thousands of pounds correcting their destination information.

Pressured to reveal why and how they went about the name change NHS GGC posted a narrative on their website earlier this summer which described a meeting in March this year and consultation with chief nursing and medical officers.

The Herald requested records of these discussions.

John Beattie, who worked for the NHS for 10 years and created the petition against the new name, said: "I think to say they do not have any minutes of the meeting raises questions about exactly who was involved and how the process was undertaken to name the hospital after the Queen. There was a very narrow consultation."

He said he has not given up his quest to see the hospital given its old SGUH title back or called something more appropriate.

He said: "At the end of the day we are in a democracy and the SNP like to pride themselves on listening to people. I think the people have spoken unanimously here. I think they should do the right thing and either change the name back or ask the people what they would like to name it.

"There is that saying: People make Glasgow."

NHS GGC said they had no further comments to add on the renaming process and lack of records.

Last month Andrew Roberston, chair of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said the public was not consulted on renaming Scotland's largest hospital after the Queen because some people would have been disappointed.

The health board has also indicated it changed the name because the hospital serves a community beyond South Glasgow and it did not want the name to alienate staff from any of the hospitals which closed as services transferred to the new building.