Meeting of the Parliament 05 November 2025 [Draft]
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 services locally. I will come on to deal with that issue.
Research conducted by Labour found that, in 2024 alone, there were 333,296 unfilled nurse and midwifery shifts. Behind those figures are caring, experienced staff who are forced to make impossible choices due to the Scottish National Party’s managed decline of our NHS. Year after year, the Royal College of Midwives has repeatedly warned about workplace shortages and the lack of opportunity for midwives to develop their skills.
Finlay Carson might remember that, last year, there was the scandal of newly trained midwives facing unemployment. The Scottish Government had spent millions of pounds on their training but could not find the funding to give them jobs—at a time when there were thousands of vacancies.
We have no workforce plan, skills going to rot, mothers not getting the support that they need and experienced front-line staff going off sick or retiring with burnout. Midwives and other front-line staff are trying their best, but they are being set up to fail. I welcome the Scottish Government’s decision to set up a task force to take immediate action, but, by itself, that is not enough. The Government is littered with task forces and recommendations that have not been implemented.
We need a national investigation, not in place of the task force but alongside it, starting now. That is what the families want and what this Parliament should deliver. We need maternity services that wrap their arms around women and babies, rather than expecting women to wait for days on end to be induced because it is more convenient to do it that way. We need transparency, not secrecy. We need the duty of candour to be effective, rather than only words on a page. We need more than three specialist neonatal services to cover the diverse geography of Scotland. We need to learn from the best international practice, to deliver the highest standards of remote and rural care. We need a proper workforce plan that enshrines our investment in the next generation of midwives. That will pay off, so that maternity units are properly staffed. We need to ensure that we hold those at the top accountable, while fostering a workplace culture where staff feel supported and there is openness, transparency and willingness to learn from mistakes.
The United Kingdom Labour Government has delivered record funding for Scotland’s public services—an extra £5.2 billion to spend in this year alone. A fraction of that would have made a difference to maternity services. This is about investing in the next generation, in women’s health, in our rural communities and in Scotland’s future.
Today, MSPs of all parties have a chance to listen to the mums, dads, doctors and experts, and to agree to a national investigation into these crucial services so that mothers and babies can be safe and get the treatment that they need. [Interruption.] I am glad that a baby is having the last word.