Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce minutes: January 2026

Attendees and apologies

• Jenni Minto MSP, Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, Chair
• Anna Glasier, Vice Chair
• Ann Gow, Vice Chair
• Christine McLaughlin, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive, NHS Scotland
• Lynne Nicol, Deputy Director Healthcare Quality and Improvement
• Amy Wilson, Deputy Director Health Workforce, deputising for Gillian Russell
• Iona Duckett, Professional Midwifery Advisor and representative for Chief Midwifery Officer
• Dr Antony Nicoll, Senior Medical Officer and representative of Chief Medical Officer
• Dr Aileen Cope, Chair of Obstetric Clinical Directors
• Dr Shetty Bhushan, Chair of Scottish Neonatal Consultants Group
• Kate Boyle, Chair of Scottish Neonatal Nurses Group
• Dr Mary Ross-Davie, Chair Directors of Midwifery Group (partial attendance)
• Attica Wheeler, Deputising for Dr Mary Ross-Davie
• Caroline Hiscox, Chair of Board Chief Executive Group
• Sarah Horan, Executive Nurse Directors representative
• Amie Maclean, Board Clinical Service Manager representative
• Professor Colin Duncan, Chair of Scottish Early Pregnancy Network
• Janis Heany, Scottish Perinatal Network Representative, deputising for Susan Buchanan
• Karen Titchener, Patient Safety Commissioner
• Melissa Dowdeswell, Healthcare Improvement Scotland representative
• Dr Paul Mills, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
• Dr Evelyn Ferguson, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
• Jaki Lambert, Royal College of Midwives
• Emma Currer, Royal College of Midwives
• Dr Linda Dubiel, Representative of Obstetric Anaesthetists
• Dr Lynsey Still, British Association of Perinatal Medicine Scotland Representative
• Caroline Lee-Davey, Bliss Chief Executive
• Dr Clea Harmer, Sands Chief Executive
• Professor Helen Cheyne, University of Stirling

Apologies

• Gillian Russell, Director for Health Workforce
• Susan Buchanan, Scottish Perinatal Network
• Professor Aisha Holloway, Chief Nursing Officer

Secretariat

• Kirstie Campbell, Scottish Government
• Sophie Rogers, Scottish Government

Items and actions

Welcome and opening remarks  

Ms Minto welcomed members to the first meeting of the Scottish Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce and introduced herself and her portfolio. She thanked members for joining the group and reflected on the importance of the work. Ms Minto invited the Vice Chairs Anna Glasier and Ann Gow to introduce themselves. 

A reminder to return declarations of interest was given, and apologies and deputies were noted.

Introductions

Ms Minto invited members to introduce themselves to the group.

Terms of reference  

Ms Minto introduced the terms of reference and invited members to share their comments. 

Members discussed a range of points, including increasing references to neonatal services, sharing of best practice and learning from Scotland and internationally, alignment with Health and Social Care Renewal Framework ambitions, including a defined lifetime of the Taskforce or timeline for reviewing the group, adding baseline data and adding clarity on the Taskforce’s function as an oversight group or task focused group.

Action: Ms Minto advised that these suggestions will be reviewed by herself and the Vice Chairs and Scottish Government team, and an updated version of the terms of reference will be recirculated to members.

Membership  

Ms Minto introduced the membership list and invited members to share their comments. 

Members suggested more independent representation, educational providers, SPN clinical leads, public health representation, other relevant clinical groups, royal colleges, equality, diversity and inclusion and ethics representation, Father’s Network and individuals who have been involved in other national reviews. Members discussed that clarity in the terms of reference would also help define membership further.

A discussion was also had on the importance of having the voice of people with lived and living experience, and it was noted that a paper on this had been prepared for this meeting.

The secretariat noted that individuals could be invited to present information to the Taskforce rather than joining as members if more suitable.

Action: These suggestions will be reviewed and the membership list will be recirculated to the group.

Living and living experience engagement structure  

Ms Minto introduced the paper and asked members to comment on the options presented for how people with lived and living experience could be included in the Taskforce. Ms Minto also invited members to suggest other options.

Members discussed the options at length. Matters covered included ensuring rural and island communities are considered throughout the work of the Taskforce, utilising existing community groups and third sector organisations, hearing harder-to-reach voices, hearing from those with recent experiences of services, learning from examples of successful engagement groups and championing Scotland’s relational model of care.

The members also discussed that having a number of engagement groups for specific matters would be desirable, indicating preference for option B to be developed further. Management of expectations and being clear about the purpose of engagement were other key points.

Action: Ms Minto invited members to send further feedback to the secretariat.

Clinical reference group structure 

Sophie Rogers introduced the paper and asked members to comment on the options presented for how voices of staff could be included in the Taskforce.

Members discussed the importance of including trainee and junior staff, using existing staff networks and communities of practice, and taking advantage of previous work by the Scottish Perinatal Network and the British Association of Perinatal Medicine. Option B was preferred, with members advising that topic-specific staff groups would be preferrable and should take account of ongoing work already underway. 

Ms Minto noted that the listening project was a previous way that voices of staff were heard.

Action: Ms Minto invited members to send further feedback to the secretariat.

Maternity, neonatal and early pregnancy landscape 

Kirstie Campbell and Antony Nicoll gave a presentation on the Maternity, Neonatal and Early Pregnancy Landscape in Scotland. 

Members were invited to discuss the presentation. Matters of discussion included the increasing rates of elective obstetric care, caesarean birth and associated impacts on other services.

Psychological safety of clinicians, HIS Safe Delivery of Care inspections and the range of data and measures available were also raised. Members also commented on funding, workforce planning, staffing and maternity care in the community and in rural areas. There was a discussion on whether the services in Scotland meet the health profile of today’s women and babies, acknowledging the impact of increasing clinical complexity on maternity and neonatal services. 

Priorities and prioritisation 

Ms Minto presented the paper on priorities and prioritisation of work for the Taskforce.

An in-depth discussion on the purpose of the Taskforce followed, as members discussed the dual need to look at maternity, neonatal and early pregnancy as a whole system in a strategic way, and the need to address immediate operational areas for attention. Ms Minto noted the priorities presented represent the concerns raised in parliament and by constituents but asked members to consider a broader review. Members suggested making sure objectives are resourced appropriately and reflect the four pillars (Quality, Finance, People and Service). 

Miscarriage care was raised, and Ms Minto agreed that an update on the implementation of the Miscarriage Framework will be provided at the next meeting. The importance of making sure there are priorities for neonatal, and these are integrated fully with the work of the Taskforce, was suggested. Members also discussed how HIS inspection reports would feed in, acknowledging they were at an early stage, restricted to hospital settings and did not review content of care plans. 

There was support for looking at how a whole system review could take place, and for taking action on Maternity Triage. 

Members also reflected that the priorities of people with lived and living experience might be different from those identified by the Taskforce.

Action: Ms Minto acknowledged the points made and advised that she will reflect on these with her Vice Chairs.

Action: Secretariat will produce an update on the implementation of Miscarriage Framework provided for next meeting.

Close 

Ms Minto thanks members for their contributions and advised that the next meeting is scheduled to take place on 26 February, and the following meeting will take place on 26 March.