Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray has announced urgent measures to improve maternity and neonatal services in Scotland, following an inspection report from Healthcare Improvement Scotland into care at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
In a statement to the Scottish Parliament, Gray confirmed the creation of a Scottish Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce to provide additional leadership and oversight. He also revealed that NHS Lothian’s maternity services will be escalated to Level 3 of the NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework, ensuring immediate support to implement the 26 recommendations made by HIS.
The HIS inspection, conducted in June 2025 and published on 29 October, uncovered serious issues including:
- Delays of up to 29 hours in labour induction due to staffing shortages
- Suboptimal skill mix and lack of one-to-one care in the labour ward
- Medication errors involving student midwives
- A negative culture, with staff feeling overwhelmed, unsupported, and afraid to escalate concerns
- Gaps in incident reporting and a culture of mistrust
Inspectors also found that some women were left alone in triage rooms without call bells, unable to request help or pain relief, and described their experience as isolating and frightening.
The Scottish Health Secretary said:
"We are taking these concerns extremely seriously and have escalated NHS Lothian Maternity Services to Level 3 of the NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework. This intervention will provide enhanced support and scrutiny and I expect to see evidence of improvement before the end of the year.
"In Scotland, we are working towards our shared vision of continuous improvement in maternity services. The HIS inspection programme is giving us vital insight into what is working and what needs to change, holding services to account and ensuring lessons are learned quickly.
“To further strengthen national oversight, a new Scottish Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce will be established, chaired by the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health and including voices of maternity service users and frontline staff, senior figures from across the health system, independent bodies, third sector and advocacy organisations.
"Our commitment to continuous improvement across our NHS is vital. We must empower our services and staff to ensure the safest and highest-quality maternity care in Scotland.”
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