You are likely to read or hear some stories in the media this week about maternity services in NHS Lothian.
A new BBC documentary will air on Tuesday and will explore challenges in maternity services across Scotland. It is looking at situations and cases in the bigger units of Glasgow and Edinburgh and is following up on the improvement work that is already underway in NHS Lothian.
Then on Wednesday, Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) will publish a report into Women’s Services following two unannounced visits in June.
You might understandably have some questions or concerns about what is going on. It is also to be expected that you may feel more anxious than normal.
We can reassure you that your health, and that of your baby, is our main priority.
If you have any questions at all, please raise them. If your expert midwife can’t answer them, they will be able to find someone else who can help.
A phoneline has also been established to help answer any questions or concerns. It will be manned by our Patient Experience Team with a local contact in Women’s Services for any specific issues.
You can make contact on: Tel 0131 536 3370 (open Mon-Fri, 9am to 2pm) and on email: LOTH.Feedback@nhs.scot
Many of the things to note are:
- We know these reports will be concerning and we apologise to women, people who use the service, and their families and can reassure them that these issues are being taken extremely seriously.
- A major improvement programme began last year and is already underway across women’s services in NHS Lothian.
- Many of the points we expect to be mentioned in the BBC documentary and many of the findings in the HIS report actually reinforce the work that is already underway and serve to strengthen the improvement plan.
- The issues are being taken extremely seriously, and we have always been clear that wider ranging matters, such as staffing, recruitment and working culture within the department, will take time to resolve.
- Significant investment and improvements have already been made, and many new posts have been filled, but there is still more to do to ensure our staff feel supported at work, safe to raise concerns and able to thrive.
- We are working to enhance patient safety, quality of care and improve working conditions for our teams.
- The first and ongoing phase of improvement work focussed on patient care. The second phase is focussed on staff working culture, training and environment.
- As part of the programme, we have improved triage and escalation increased staffing, boosted training, altered placement rotation and created robust patient pathways.
- The report highlighted some areas of good practice, particularly our maternity triage system which is one of areas already targeted by the ongoing improvement programme.
