First maternity unit inspection report published
Healthcare Improvement Scotland has published its first safe delivery of care inspection of maternity units.
The inspection, at Ninewells Hospital in NHS Tayside, found good teamwork and compassionate care but also concerns, including variations in how patients were assessed and treated.
The inspection, carried out at the hospital at the end of January this year, also included an inspection of acute services at Ninewells Hospital.
“In response to Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s Neonatal Mortality Review in 2024, we made a commitment to expanding our safe delivery of care inspection approach to include inpatient maternity services. The maternity inspections will provide women and families with an assessment of the quality of care provided by their local maternity service and an independent review of any required improvements.
Our organisation is also producing a set of standards for maternity services, which will in time support our inspection process for maternity services.”
Director of Quality Assurance and Regulation at Healthcare Improvement Scotland
The maternity services inspection of Ninewells resulted in nine areas of good practice, three recommendations and 20 requirements.
Donna Maclean, Chief Inspector of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, said:
“During our inspection of the maternity services we saw staff providing compassionate and responsive care to women and their families and women we spoke with were complimentary of the care provided.
“We observed good teamwork including obstetricians, midwives and the health care support team, with open and supportive discussions at the multidisciplinary huddle within the labour ward. New members of the multidisciplinary team reported feeling able to discuss concerns and escalate any issues.
“However, as a result of concerns identified during our inspection, that required immediate improvement, we carried out an unannounced revisit on 12 February 2025. The concerns related to variation in practice to assessing women within maternity triage and to staff access and awareness of retrieval of emergency medication within the maternity triage department.
“During the revisit we were not assured that sufficient progress or improvement had been made with some of our concerns and we therefore formally wrote to NHS Tayside outlining areas of assurance required. NHS Tayside responded with details of immediate improvement actions taken. “
The acute hospital inspection of Ninewells found a well-established system in the emergency department, signposting patients to receive the right care and demonstrating good oversight and evidence of shared learning.
Staff spoke of a positive and supportive culture in the hospital and patient feedback was complimentary. Areas for improvement that were identified included fire safety training, poor compliance of hand hygiene and the current layout of older wards impacting on showering facilities and potentially compromising patient dignity.
An improvement action plan has been developed by NHS Tayside to meet the requirements for both maternity and acute services.