This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Executive responds to NHS Grampian proposals
14/12/2006
NHS Grampian has today been given approval to develop its diagnostic and older people's services but has been asked to do more work on its plans for maternity services.
Health Minister Andy Kerr has asked the Board to review its existing proposals for services at Aboyne, Banff and Fraserburgh to see if there is scope for providing birth units for low-risk mothers on the lines of models already in place in other parts of rural Scotland at any or all of the hospitals. That work is expected to be completed and re-submitted to the Minister before the end of next month.
Mr Kerr said:
"We want to build an NHS which provides more services in the community, and aims to prevent acute hospital admissions wherever possible. Much of what NHS Grampian has proposed fits that vision.
"The changes the Board wants to make in diagnostic and older people's services will mean more local access, shorter waiting times and fewer trips to the main hospitals.
"When it comes to maternity services the safety of mother and child should always be paramount. With low birth numbers, not all of the Community Midwife Units in Aberdeenshire are sustainable. However, it's also important to try to offer a choice over where women deliver their baby.
"That's why I want the Board to consider whether birth units would provide that choice for low risk mothers in Aberdeenshire's rural communities, and I look forward to seeing the results of their review in the coming weeks."
Background:
Birth units are in use in a number of rural communities in Scotland, for example in Argyllshire. They provide facilities where low-risk mothers can deliver their babies in a setting that is more like home than hospital. When a pregnant woman who has indicated a preference for delivering in such a unit goes into labour, she telephones her midwife and arranges to come into the birth unit, where the midwife will normally provide one-to-one care. In most cases the women return home on the same day, within 6 to 12 hours of birth. The midwife then provides postnatal care to mother and child in their own home. Other aspects of maternity care, including antenatal care, scans and monitoring, are also provided for all pregnant women in the locality.
NHS Grampian's proposals for service change were submitted to the Health Minister on 8th August. Mr Kerr today replied by letter to the Board chair, Jim Royan OBE.