SCOTTISH Labour welcomed a commitment from Health Secretary Jeane Freeman today that the jobs of whistleblowers at an under-fire Glasgow hospital will be protected.

Following a statement to the Scottish Parliament on the closure of wards at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Govan, Ms Freeman said those who came forward would not be penalised.

The SNP MSP, who has been under pressure to take drastic measures after the deaths of two children at the site were linked to water contamination in the now closed wards, said that intimidation and victimisation at the QEUH would also be addressed.

However she did not commit to putting so-called "special measures" in place at the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board.

It was claimed last week that 26 child cancer patients had contracted infections at the hospital in 2017.

A public inquiry into multiple failings at the hospital, as well as at the as-yet unopened Sick Kids’ hospital in Edinburgh, will look into the claims.

The commitment came as Ms Freeman apologised to the families of two children who died following reported water contamination in a ward at the Glasgow hospital.

Labour MSP Monica Lennon said that the families of Millie Main, 10, and three-year-old Mason Djemat, had been "failed," and that the public was losing confidence in the government’s ability to get to the bottom of the problems which have plagued the QEUH since its opening.