Meeting of the Parliament 21 February 2017
I thank the minister for prior sight of the statement. It is important to look at the report alongside “Bliss Scotland baby report 2017”, because it is clear that the Government’s failure to do workforce planning has left our maternity and neonatal units understaffed, and existing staff overworked. The Bliss Scotland report found that three quarters of units do not have enough nurses, that two thirds do not have enough medical staff to meet minimum standards of care, and that more than half do not have enough overnight accommodation for parents of critically ill babies. When will the Government publish a detailed workforce plan? How many additional staff will be provided and by when? When will all the units meet national standards for high-quality care?
The report recommends the removal of intensive care cots from 10 units over the next five years. Which 10 units will lose their intensive care cots and what impact will that have on travel times and on keeping families together? The report also makes clear the desire to keep mothers and babies together. What additional capacity will be created for free accommodation for parents of critically ill babies?
Lastly, the report says that
“All women should have an appropriate level of choice”
on where to deliver. Does the minister accept that the proposals to close the maternity units at the Vale of Leven hospital and at Inverclyde royal hospital are ill thought through? Will she call in the proposals and reject them?