THE mother of a child whose death at Glasgow’s flagship hospital has been linked to contaminated water has said she feels let down and lied to.

Kimberly Darroch said her ten-year-old daughter Milly Main caught an infection when she was in remission for cancer.

She spoke out amid calls for Health Secretary Jeane Freeman to resign and claims of a “cover-up”.

A whistleblower told Labour MSP Anas Sarwar that a doctor-led investigation found the death of a young cancer patient at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in 2017 was linked to an infected water supply.

Mr Sarwar raised the issue at First Minister’s Questions in Holyrood, where he insisted Ms Sturgeon was not being told the truth about what had happened.

READ MORE: Child cancer patient 'died with infection' while being treated at Glasgow children's hospital

Ms Freeman later confirmed she learned of the case after the bereaved parent wrote to her in September, but did not make this public due to patient confidentiality, arguing it "would be entirely wrong for me to do".

She said: "Not revealing it is not the same as not acting on it and I acted on it."

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said it was not possible to conclude infections identified in 2017 were connected to the water supply because it was not required to carry out tests for Stenotrophomonas at that time.

Speaking to the Daily Record, Ms Darroch said she wanted an apology.

She said: “I want them to admit what they have done is wrong. And I want them to admit that they’ve covered it up.”

“I was getting to a point in life where I was able to face each day. It’s taken me back to when Milly died. It’s just opened it all up again.”

The 35-year-old said she burst into tears when she read this week’s coverage of her daughter’s death.

She said Milly was ill from the age of five. The cancer then came back a few years later and she became a patient at the QEUH.

READ MORE: 'Cover up' claims after child with cancer dies from infection at Glasgow hospital

However, he treatment was successfully and she was recovering before she contracted an infection in her Hickman line, a catheter used to administer chemotherapy.

Ms Darroch said she and her partner were given little information after Milly’s death, but suspicions grew when "stenotrophomonas" was cited on the death certificate.

She then wrote to Ms Freeman in September.

She told the Daily Record: “Of course there is patient confidentiality, but should that be kept back from Milly’s parents? No. She is a 10 year old child. We are her parents. We deserve to know the truth.”

Earlier, Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said there is “no way Jeane Freeman can continue in the role now the details of this case have been made clear”.

He said: “It should not take a whistleblower and an opposition MSP to drag the truth out of this SNP government.

“It’s completely unacceptable. Patients will be absolutely furious that such a serious failure has been covered up by this SNP government.

“The Health Secretary must apologise to the family and resign or, if she refuses, be sacked.”

READ MORE: Health Secretary urged to quit after child's Glasgow hospital death 'cover-up'

Speaking yesterday, Mr Sarwar said the priority should be getting answers for the family.

He said: “This is a major national scandal, and Jeane Freeman and the health board have very serious questions to answer.

“But the priority right now is getting the truth, seeking answers for parents and protection for NHS staff who have been put in an unforgivable situation.

“We must not lose sight of the human tragedy at the centre of these revelations.

“The parents of the child who tragically died deserve to know why they have never been told what happened, despite pleas from NHS staff to senior managers.

“Nothing like this can ever happen again.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP called for Ms Freeman to make an urgent statement at Holyrood.

He said: “Given the intense public concern about infections and the safety of hospital buildings, it is incomprehensible that the Health Secretary decided that the right approach was to keep this new information private.

“No parent should ever have to find out through the actions of a whistleblower why their child may have actually died. It is devastating.

“The Health Secretary must immediately agree to come to Parliament and provide a statement. There are very serious questions that need answered.”

An official investigation into water contamination at the hospital found 23 cases of child cancer patients with the bloodstream infection Stenotrophomonas in 2018.

However, an NHS whistleblower told Mr Sarwar an internal investigation had uncovered an additional 26 cases since 2017, including in one child who died.

According to the MSP, the parents of the child had never been told the true cause of death.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde: "This week’s coverage will have been very challenging for Milly’s family.

“It is a tragedy in any situation when a young child dies. We would again like to share our deepest condolences with the family involved.

“We have offered to meet Mrs Darroch to discuss her concerns, and to answer her questions where we can.

“We fully understand that the family wants to know whether the infection Milly had is connected to the water supply.

“The truth is there is no way to know this as we did not consider this to be the source at the time and we did not test for the particular infection in the water supply.

“We remain very concerned that a member of staff has made a claim of a link when there is no evidence of this, causing significant distress and anxiety to Milly’s parents.

“The water in the hospital is safe and has been independently assessed as such."