Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 05 November 2025 [Draft]
05 Nov 2025 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Maternity Services
It absolutely has to be, of course; there is no equivocation on that.
The new Scottish maternity and neonatal task force, which I announced last week, will review the findings of the HIS inspections. Two of those inspections have already taken place in Tayside and Lothian; they are complete and reported. HIS has committed to performing eight NHS acute maternity inspections by March 2026. Following the review of the findings and recommendations of those inspections, if the task force recommends a wider national review, I confirm to the Parliament that the Government will take that forward, giving full consideration to staff and patient welfare. I hope that that makes it clear to members that the Government is not shutting down the prospect of a review, but that the processes that are already under way should conclude in the first instance.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur)
LD
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-19512, in the name of Jackie Baillie, on Scotland’s maternity services. I invite members who wish to part...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
The birth of a child is probably the most significant and special event for any mother, but in Scotland today, sadly, that is not always the case. Last week,...
Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con)
Con
Will the member take an intervention?
Jackie Baillie
Lab
I am happy to do so.
Finlay Carson
Con
Although patient safety is paramount, does the member accept that the reduction in the number of midwives through poor workplace management has reduced the c...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
I agree—understaffing is one of the key problems in some of the distressing cases that I outlined and also in being able to provide safe midwifery-led servic...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Unfortunately, the baby cannot move the motion, Ms Baillie, so I would be grateful if you could do so. Laughter.
Jackie Baillie
Lab
I move, That the Parliament is alarmed by the serious patient safety issues raised in recent inspection reports of maternity services, and calls on the Scot...
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care (Neil Gray)
SNP
I thank Jackie Baillie for lodging the motion for debate. I agree with a substantial amount of what she has put on the record today. I provided a statement ...
Sarah Boyack (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
Does the cabinet secretary agree that the experience of women who miscarry needs to be looked at, too? One of my constituents had to wait while two parts of ...
Neil Gray
SNP
I absolutely agree with Sarah Boyack. I expect that to be part of the improvements that need to come through from Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s review, b...
Sandesh Gulhane (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
I thank the cabinet secretary for taking my intervention. I declare an interest as a practising NHS general practitioner. Repeated surveys show that obstetr...
Neil Gray
SNP
I made it absolutely clear in response to questions from Dr Gulhane’s colleague Stephen Kerr last week about my very clear expectation for the culture in our...
Stephen Kerr (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
Will Neil Gray take an intervention?
Neil Gray
SNP
I need to make some progress, so I hope that members will forgive me. I will see whether I can come to Mr Kerr later. I know that members of the Parliament ...
Pam Duncan-Glancy (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?
Neil Gray
SNP
I will try to come back to Pam Duncan-Glancy. I want to make progress, but I also want to ensure that colleagues have the opportunity to have their say. I w...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
A national investigation would not be in place of the work that is going on—it would go alongside that and would recognise that this issue does not just affe...
Neil Gray
SNP
I recognise the point that Jackie Baillie makes. I believe that the HIS inspection regime allows us to get into greater detail at local levels and allows us ...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD)
LD
I understand the cabinet secretary’s point, which is that he wants immediate action. However, in his statement last week, he set out a series of investigatio...
Neil Gray
SNP
I disagree. Healthcare Improvement Scotland inspections have only begun this year to uncover the challenges that we have seen in Tayside and in Lothian. They...
Pam Duncan-Glancy
Lab
My colleague Marie Tidball MP has started a campaign about the experience of disabled people during maternity on the back of the London School of Hygiene and...
Neil Gray
SNP
It absolutely has to be, of course; there is no equivocation on that. The new Scottish maternity and neonatal task force, which I announced last week, will ...
Stephen Kerr
Con
Will the cabinet secretary give way?
Neil Gray
SNP
I do not know how much time I have left.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
We have used up all the time in hand. I expect to extend the debate a little, given the nature of the discussions, but, as I say, we are over time.
Neil Gray
SNP
If Mr Kerr could be pithy, I will take the intervention.
Stephen Kerr
Con
I will be very pithy. Despite what the cabinet secretary says, I cannot see how, without a national inquiry, we can get to the issues of culture that he spok...
Neil Gray
SNP
I have already said that, should the HIS inspections that we are getting before March, and the task force, recommend that course, that is what I will do. I b...
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD)
LD
Will the cabinet secretary give way?