RCM welcomes plan to introduce maternity service inspections in Scotland
on 27 August 2024 Midwifery Midwives MSWs - Maternity Support Workers Scotland RCM Scotland Scottish Government NHS Scotland Scottish Maternity Services Safety Maternity Safety maternity care assistant
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has welcomed Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) announcement that routine inspections of maternity services across Scotland will begin in January 2025.
However, it has cautioned that there are limitations as the work to develop specific maternity standards has not yet started.
The announcement follows calls from the RCM for a commitment to the development of standards for maternity care across Scotland, whose calls and recommendations were published in the RCM’s Five Year Forward Plan.
The RCM says that it hopes the new inspection reports will also highlight good practice, so those services that are struggling and striving to make improvements can learn from those that are doing well.
Jaki Lambert, Director of the Royal College of Midwives in Scotland commented:
“We welcome Healthcare Improvement Scotland's commitment to the development of standards for maternity care, and I am cautiously optimistic that the inspections will support our members and help to shine a light on the challenges that they face. We now await the development of clear standards which will support maternity services to provide assurances regarding the care they provide. We must also ensure that the inspections will not be used as a tool to undermine an already challenged and under-resourced workforce. We will be watching and listening to make sure this does not happen. Midwives and maternity care assistants work hard every day to support and work with families at such an important time in their lives, but they can only do that with the right resources, leadership and culture to support them.”
When it comes to leadership the RCM says that while they welcome the appointment of a lead midwife at Health improvement Scotland, they are disappointed that it is only a part time role and below the associate director level that’s required to have the influence to make lasting improvements.
The RCM has long called for midwifery leadership in the right places and better support for midwives to escalate concerns which limit their ability to provide the best and safest individualised care to women, their babies and families. In 2022 the RCM published the results of a county-wide survey of its members where midwives in Scotland identified the steps needed to provide the best levels of care.
Jaki added:
“Without a doubt these inspections will highlight the challenges faced by our members, and it’s crucial their voices are also listened to. There is however no point in any inspections, standards or safe staffing legislation if we continue to be crippled by workforce challenges. Understaffing undoubtedly compromises safety and currently we have far too many services without the right levels of midwifery staff and correct skill mix. We also have almost 300 midwifery students at the point of qualifying, every one of them are needed and have been invested in at great cost to the public, yet to date less than a third have secured jobs.”
ENDS
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Notes to Editors:
- The RCM’s Five Year Forward Plan was published in 2022 following a survey response of over 40% of midwives in Scotland, which identified key themes of compassionate care, staffing, career development, leadership and culture.
- The Royal College of Midwives have consistently lobbied for more resource to be focused on maternity services from the Scottish government and health improvement Scotland scottish-state-of-maternity-services-report-2023.pdf (rcm.org.uk)
- Inspections are already carried out in England by the CQC, by the Healthcare Inspectorate in Wales and in Northern Ireland by the Regulation and Improvement Authority.
About the RCM
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is the only trade union and professional association dedicated to serving midwifery and the whole midwifery team. We provide workplace advice and support, professional and clinical guidance, and information, and learning opportunities with our broad range of events, conferences, and online resources. For more information visit the RCM | A professional organisation and trade union dedicated to serving the whole midwifery team.