We would not allow staff to move internally if this compromised patient services.

A hospital trust spokesman

Staff were reported to be upset by the limited space available in the unit, which they have likened to a "cupboard".

The spokesman said: "We would not allow staff to move internally if this compromised patient services.

"Since the beginning of the year we have been training staff in the administration of chemotherapy and we have a fully trained workforce available to continue with the oncology service."

But the trust admitted the complex had experienced teething problems.

It said it had been working to iron out the problems with the private-public consortium put in place to build the hospital under the controversial Private Finance Initiative scheme.

Patients case records

Sewage had seeped through floors because of faulty drains and parts of the hospital have overheated because of problems with the air-conditioning.

The trust said many of the issues had arisen several months ago and had been addressed.

The spokesman denied that thousands of patients' case records had been lost, after 500,000 files had been transferred to the new hospital from an old centre.

He said the problem had been in the system of accessing the records when the patient attended clinical appointments at the new hospital.

"We have already published apologies several weeks ago for the initial problems with making records available for clinical appointments," he said.

Significant improvements

"To address the situation, additional investment in both staffing levels and work practices had been put into place and significant improvements have been achieved."

The admissions come as STUC general secretary Bill Speirs said he was alarmed by what he called the "horrendous" reports coming from Hairmyres.

He attacked Prime Minister Tony Blair's plans for private investment in public services.

A spokesman for the Health minister Susan Deacon said she was aware of the problems at the hospital.

He said: "These are primarily operational issues and as such they are for the trust and for the consortium to address.

"Nonetheless, the minister has asked Health Department officials to closely monitor the situation and to keep her fully informed both of developments and the steps taken to resolve the operational problems."