Hansard

Before I begin my remarks, I take the opportunity to thank the team at Bliss Scotland for working with me to lodge the motion in Parliament.

I first raised issues surrounding the best start new model of neonatal care back in September 2023. News had broken of the intention to downgrade Wishaw general hospital’s neonatal department, in my region. That provoked a strong backlash from communities in Lanarkshire, especially from families who had received care and support from the award-winning team at the hospital.

A campaign group, led by the Wishaw neonatal warriors, has said that the plans would be “catastrophic” as expectant mums and their babies will need to travel to other hospitals to receive specialist care. The online petition has now surpassed 25,000 signatures, which is testament to the strength of feeling against this ill-thought-out decision.

At the time, I warned the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health that

“Lanarkshire mums ... are the feisty type”,

and said that I knew that they would continue to fight against the downgrade

“every step of the way.”—[Official Report, 20 September 2023; c 98.]

They will continue to have my support, as I do not believe that Government ministers have truly considered the lasting impact of this decision on parents and their newborn babies, nor does the national health service have the adequate or sustained staffing levels to achieve the new model of neonatal care.

The best start model was first introduced in 2017, yet, eight years on, the new model has not been fully implemented and the resources that are needed to implement it safely while providing support to families have not been delivered in full. There remains great uncertainty over when or how full implementation of the neonatal model, as confirmed by the minister in July 2023, will take place. That is simply not good enough.

One in seven babies in the United Kingdom require some level of neonatal care after birth, and the care that they receive is vital to their long-term health. Approximately 5,200 babies are admitted to neonatal units in Scotland each year, and the care that they receive is often life-saving, but it can also be deeply traumatic for babies and their families. Babies, who have just opened their eyes for the first time, not only are adapting to their new surroundings but are exposed to stress and pain as a result of requiring additional care.

One of the main issues that I wish to raise concerns facilities for parents. I have just mentioned how deeply traumatising neonatal care is for parents and babies, yet, moments after giving birth, mums are routinely separated from their babies for extended periods, as most hospitals do not provide sufficient facilities to enable parents to stay overnight. That is undoubtedly detrimental to the health of not just the newborn baby, but of worried parents, who just want to be close so that they can comfort their child. The lack of that early contact can disrupt bonding and heighten stress, with an impact on both emotional wellbeing and physical development such as breastfeeding initiation.

Why, therefore, do we not have overnight accommodation for parents on neonatal wards? It is not easy for parents having to travel long distances to stay with their baby in a hospital overnight, especially when more than one child is involved. Indeed, the Bliss families kept apart campaign in Scotland found that for one in every 10 babies who need to stay overnight on a unit, there is only one room for a parent to stay with them. In 2025, that is scandalous.

Alternative arrangements are considered, but that usually comes at a cost to parents, who might not be able to afford to stay in a nearby hotel. There appear to be no solutions to provide parents with the reassurance that they will be able to stay by their newborn’s side. Regardless of whether the Scottish Government continues with what I feel is the wrong move in downgrading neonatal departments across Scotland, it must still ensure that there is overnight accommodation to enable parents to stay with their babies. Otherwise, it is willingly advocating for the sickest newborn babies to be separated from their parents. That would be not only morally wrong, but unforgivable, should any parent learn of a deterioration in their baby’s health without being close by.

Therefore, I call on the minister to commit today to ensuring that every hospital that is currently specialising in neonatal care has the appropriate accommodation for parents. That is essential for any new model of neonatal care. I cannot believe that we are even having this discussion today—it is just basic common sense.

The implementation of the best start model recommendations in the report “The Best Start—A Five-year Forward Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Care in Scotland” has been painfully slow. Even if people do not agree with all of those recommendations, the fact is that families who might be affected in the future—and, critically, the staff working in neonatal services departments across Scotland—deserve to know how long the new model will take to implement. If the Scottish Government is truly committed to providing high-quality care to the sickest babies, it needs to get a move on.

Ministers cannot continue to bury their heads in the sand over the downgrading of neonatal services. Regardless of whatever evidence they say has been produced, it is clear that communities are against the move, and ministers have ignored the fact that receiving care further from home can reduce parents’ ability to be partners in their baby’s care. In addition, ministers cannot overlook the need to ensure that overnight accommodation is provided to parents so that they can always be with their babies.

The minister must set out what the Government sees as essential criteria in the best start model, including adequate staffing provision, and the timescale for full implementation. Uncertainty causes alarm, and this debate provides an opportunity for the Scottish Government to outline those next steps today.

In my previous contribution on this topic, I said that the reason that I feel so passionately about the issue

“is because I am a mum.”—[Official Report, 20 September 2023; c 96.]

I will continue to push the Scottish Government to improve neonatal services across Scotland.