West of Scotland Liberal Democrat MSP Ross Finnie has called for the reinstatement of the 24/7 maternity service at the Inverclyde Community Maternity Unit (CMU) after research has revealed that delivering an infant outside the normal working week was associated with an increased risk of neonatal death.

Last year NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde transferred the CMU at Inverclyde Royal to an “on-call” service outside the hours of 9-5 and weekends. Recently staff from the Inverclyde CMU who where on standby for the on-call service at the weekend were sent by NHS Greater Clyde and Glasgow to work a shift at the Royal Alexandria Hospital in Paisley due to staff shortages.

Commenting Mr Finnie said:

“This study is very concerning and begs questions as to how NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde justifies a lower level of staff cover at Inverclyde's CMU out of hours service.

“Only this week we discovered staff of the CMU were asked to work at the Royal Alexandria Hospital in Paisley despite being on-call in Inverclyde.

“Inverclyde’s CMU mist return to a 24/7 service to reduce any unnecessary risk to babies being born outside normal working hours.”

Notes:

Time of birth and risk of neonatal death at term: retrospective cohort study can be found at: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/341/jul15_1/c3498