The widow of a senior Scottish Government official has made a new plea for answers in a letter to the first minister. 

Andrew Slorance died in hospital in December 2020 after contracting Covid-19 during treatments for cancer at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH). 

His wife, Louise Slorance, said she feels "let down by everybody involved" as she claimed the family can not properly grieve the loss due to a lack of answers about Mr Slorance's care. 

The father of five was the head of the Scottish Government’s response and communication unit which was responsible for its handling of the pandemic. 

Mrs Slorance said she later discovered her husband also had aspergillus – a fungal infection caused by a type of mould – when she went through his medical notes.

Last year, the First Minister pledged that the Government would “do everything possible to ensure that Andrew’s family get the answers that they are seeking”.

Nicola Sturgeon said: "I will not and this Government will not tolerate cover-ups or secrecy on the part of any health board, and where there are concerns about that we will address those concerns.”

But Mrs Slorance, who first spoke publicly about her husband’s death in November 2021, claimed that the health board involved, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, “seem very reluctant to give me information”.

She told the BBC: “My family and I need answers, we need to be able to grieve. We can’t grieve with no answers and no explanation.

“I feel very let down by everybody involved – the heath board, the Government, and the fact that the First Minister has referred to Andrew as a friend.

“As a friend, surely she can understand why his family desperately need the answers as to what happened.

“I don’t know whether her involvement has been too hands-off and that’s why the external review hasn’t met the purpose it was supposed to, or I suppose I’m incredibly suspicious that everything that has been done to date has been done in order to make sure that the truth doesn’t come out and that it’s for a cover-up.”

Asked whether she feels Ms Sturgeon has failed in her commitment to fully investigate her husband’s death, she replied: “Absolutely.”

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government assured that Mrs Slorance has been invited to discuss her husband's case with clinicians from the Glasgow health board. 

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Clinicians from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have extended an invitation to discuss Andrew’s care, and this offer remains open.

“We would encourage Mrs Slorance to take the opportunity to meet with NHS GGC clinicians and ask those questions pertinent to Andrew’s care.”

A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde told the BBC: “At all times our clinicians follow rigorous national processes governing documentation on death certificates.

“It is inconceivable that any clinician would agree to withhold information from a death certificate in order to protect the reputation of the service or a hospital.

“We also strongly refute that individuals within the organisation would ask any clinician to do so.”