Ensuring safe maternity services

New taskforce to strengthen oversight of provision.

Health Secretary Neil Gray has announced new measures to ensure the continued safety and quality of maternity and neonatal services, following the publication of Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s (HIS) inspection report on Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

In a statement to Parliament, Mr Gray said he was establishing a new Scottish Maternity and Neonatal taskforce to provide additional leadership. He also confirmed that NHS Lothian maternity services will be moved to level 3 of the NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework. This will ensure additional support is in place to allow the board to act immediately to implement the 26 recommendations made by HIS. 

We are taking these concerns extremely seriously and have escalated NHS Lothian Maternity Services to Level 3 of the NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework. This intervention will provide enhanced support and scrutiny and I expect to see evidence of improvement before the end of the year.

In Scotland, we are working towards our shared vision of continuous improvement in maternity services. The HIS inspection programme is giving us vital insight into what is working and what needs to change, holding services to account and ensuring lessons are learned quickly.

To further strengthen national oversight, a new Scottish Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce will be established, chaired by the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health and including voices of maternity service users and frontline staff, senior figures from across the health system, independent bodies, third sector and advocacy organisations.

Our commitment to continuous improvement across our NHS is vital. We must empower our services and staff to ensure the safest and highest-quality maternity care in Scotland.

– HEALTH SECRETARY NEIL GRAY

Background

The Health Secretary’s statement to Parliament is available on the Scottish Government’s website.

The HIS inspection report on Edinburgh Royal Infirmary is available on its website.