NHS Lothian is continuing its programme of improvement work in women’s services to help enhance safe and effective patient care and bolster our dedicated teams.
The vital work is ongoing at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh as NHS Lothian today (29 October 2025) accepted a report from Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) which effectively endorses the plan already underway, and provides recommendations to strengthen that vital work.
The report was published at a time when NHS Lothian is already heavily involved in an intensive programme to improve patient safety and working culture within women’s services in NHS Lothian.
The HIS report identified many areas of good practice within the department and teams, but as expected it also highlighted that more work and support is still required.
Professor Caroline Hiscox, Chief Executive, NHS Lothian, said: “I know these reports are concerning and I apologise to women, people who use the service, and their families and can reassure them that these issues are being taken extremely seriously.
“An improvement plan is ongoing in NHS Lothian after whistleblowing concerns were raised in 2024 and we have been very 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.
“More than 70 additional midwives have been recruited and will be in post by the end of December. Thirty of those are already in post and we are now fully compliant with healthcare safe staffing legislation. The other 42 have been recruited to provide additional resilience and to future-proof our maternity service.
“I want to reiterate the apology we made to staff earlier in the year when they told us about their concerns over staffing numbers and about a working culture that was difficult, and where bad behaviours were tolerated.
“That is not acceptable in any workplace and that is why we commissioned an external review to enable us to get the extra detail required. Our teams are now developing their own culture charter and I’m pleased to say that over 60 of them have expressed an interest in becoming a culture champion.
“We know there is still more to do to ensure our staff feel supported at work, safe to raise concerns and able to thrive.
“The inspection report from HIS rightly picked up on the actions which are still ongoing.
“We are grateful to HIS for their expertise and remain committed to working with them and other professional organisations to improve our service for our women, people who use the service and our teams.”
Since the improvement programme was launched, a tremendous amount of work has been carried out to robustly review all aspects of care and workforce, including working patterns and training as well as the investment in additional staff.
The focus then turned to the concerns around working culture and the need to improve support for hard-pressed frontline staff and concentrate on teams and leadership.
As part of phase two, NHS Lothian commissioned its own research which reported back in May this year and echoed that more support had to be provided to our dedicated teams. These findings have further shaped and developed the improvement work.
A phoneline is available to help answer any questions or concerns on: 0131 536 3370 (open Mon-Fri, 9am to 2pm). Contact can also be made on email: LOTH.Feedback@nhs.scot
