Alarm about maternity staffing sounded more than 1,000 times

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP today said "Scotland's mums deserve better" as he challenged John Swinney over new research showing frontline staff sounded the alarm about short staffing on maternity wards almost 300 times last year.

The Scottish Liberal Democrat freedom of information request to all of Scotland's health boards shows:

• Since 2020/21, there have been 1,135 reports relating to short staffing on maternity wards logged in the NHS incident system.
• These reports increased by 170% between 2020/21 and 2024/25.
• Since 2020/21, there have been 306 reports in NHS Glasgow and 199 reports in NHS Lothian.  
• Reports  increased from 3 to 26 in NHS Highland while more than doubling in NHS Forth Valley and NHS Lothian.

Alex Cole-Hamilton also raised the case of a mum in Caithness who told The Herald about having to travel 100 miles on a bus before giving birth - just one of the many cases that is behind the campaigning by Caithness Health Action Team (CHAT), Jamie Stone MP and the local Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate David Green.

Speaking during First Minister’s Questions, Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

"Elizabeth Jones is a mum in Caithness. Her first two kids were born in the local hospital. Then, on the SNP’s watch, her local maternity services were downgraded.

"So when Elizabeth’s third child needed to be born by c-section, she had to travel 100 miles to Inverness, alone, on a bus.

"In November, this parliament backed a Scottish Liberal Democrat amendment, which voted for an independent review, giving hope to families in Caithness.

"So why is the SNP defying the wishes of this parliament?

He went onto say:

"There’s nothing independent about a review if an SNP minister is in overall charge of it.

"No wonder mums in the far north feel really let down and unsafe. And they are not alone.

"New Scottish Liberal Democrat research shows that 300 times last year, maternity wards across Scotland recorded safety concerns about being short staffed - red flags on the health service’s official incident reporting system.

"That is almost treble what it was at the start of this parliament.

"The compensation the NHS has paid out to affected families has skyrocketed.

"The Royal College of Midwives warn that staff “are being stretched beyond breaking point” and that women and babies are being denied the care that they deserve.

"All of this, on the SNP’s watch.

"Don’t Scotland’s mums deserve better?"