SCOTLAND’S NHS watchdog was due to face questions from Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray today amid a crisis of confidence in its handling of hospital safety concerns.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) received complaints from 29 A&E consultants almost a year ago that patient safety was being put at risk at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) because of understaffing and overcrowding in A&E.

But the watchdog has had to apologise to the complainants after they challenged an investigative process that took no evidence from them and closed just three months later having only spoken to senior NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (NHSGGC) executives.