NHS Highland unveils plans for £9 million revamp of maternity wards and services at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness
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Plans for a transformational investment of nearly £9 million in maternity wards at Raigmore Hospital have been revealed.
If approved, NHS Highland claims its ambitious project would lead to a major expansion in maternity and neonatal care services at the Highlands’ flagship hospital and enable more women from Moray and Caithness to give birth in Inverness.
It is understood the £5 million cost for new and upgraded buildings – to be completed by 2025 – would then necessitate another £3.8 million being spent on 56 extra staff, including doctors, consultants, nurses, midwives and other specialists.
An NHS Highland spokesman said: "We have identified £5 million capital funding for this project and a timeframe of 24 months.
"We will submit a business case to the NHS Highland Board and the Scottish Government next month which will enable us to confirm specific details on bed capacity and staffing levels."
NHS Highland’s planning application details how the maternity department would be re-shaped and upgraded, with a brand new extension.
Last month the Scottish Government announced a £6.6 million funding package aimed at progressing moves towards an integrated maternity service for the north of Scotland, developed jointly by NHS Grampian and NHS Highland.
The cash was for a refurbishment of maternity facilities at Raigmore Hospital and to support a return to consultant-led care at Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin.
Maternity services would remain operational throughout the building and refurbishment work, led by the firm Kier Construction.
The need to redesign Raigmore’s maternity unit came as elements of maternity care were transferred from Caithness General Hospital in 2016 and from Moray in 2018. That led to a review of the hospital’s maternity and special care baby capacity from late 2018.
A networked model of care with Raigmore Hospital in Inverness will see Moray women offered a choice of place of birth from early 2025, once refurbishment work has concluded.
Planning documents now before officials feature a design and access statement for the new unit, with artists’ impressions of how it would look.
One of the most significant features of the project would be an extension of ward 11 with seven new birthing rooms and associated en-suites.
It would also include: a reconfiguration of current wards; creation of clinical examination and consulting rooms within the ground floor; a re-configuring of the birthing suite and special care baby unit (SCBU); fire upgrading works; and external improvement works.
The design statement reads: “The project is to develop a facility that will provide additional capacity and a modern, safe and compliant environment to deliver maternity services for the next 10-plus years.”
Raigmore was originally built in 1941, with additional buildings added up to the present day.
The current two-storey maternity block, built in 1988 with an office extension in 2001, is sited to the north-west of the hospital’s main eight-storey building.
Linked to the main building on both floors, it comprises a ground floor endoscopy department and a labour suite, first floor postnatal, labour suites and theatres and a second floor planted area.
There would also be alterations to the road layout and a turning area.
To limit disturbance to the live hospital site and busy clinical services, the project would be implemented in phases “avoiding the creation of risks to healthcare delivery, patients, staff and visitors”, including any disruption to blue light ambulance and air ambulance services.
Research evidence on the benefits of green spaces for patients will influence improvements around the maternity ward’s perimeter.
There has been concern in Caithness, where the vast majority of women – 202 last year, with only eight birthing locally – have to travel to Inverness to give birth, about moves towards centralisation of maternity services.
Ron Gunn, chairman of Caithness Health Action Team and a Lib Dem Highland councillor for Thurso and Northwest Caithness, said: “If they are spending that money in Inverness with extra staffing and extra beds, it is a worry.
“Will it be a case of them saying, ‘sorry, everyone goes to Inverness’?
“We know all the dangers involved in having to go down there. We would far rather them concentrating on trying to get more births in Caithness.”
Marj Adams of the Keep MUM group in Moray, which has been campaigning for a full maternity service to be restored at Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin, said:”Raigmore needs an upgrade in its maternity services – there’s no question about that.
“But they need to be improved for women from the Highlands, not for women from Moray.
“What women in Moray need is the restoration of a consultant-led obstetrics service at Dr Gray’s.”
Highland Conservative MSP Edward Mountain, who is campaigning for a new hospital to be built in Inverness, said: “This is desperately needed. Even if the Government signed off today on the new hospital, it will probably take more than 10 years to deliver it.
“I am seeking an assurance from NHS Highland that there will be a significant increase in the bed capacity for the maternity unit.
“I look forward to seeing NHS Highland’s plans for the relocation of the maternity unit during the construction phase, so that it will not interfere with the delivery of other treatment for elective surgery patients.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Safe maternity care as close to home as practicable is vital.
"We recognise the challenges facing remote and rural health boards, which is why the Scottish Government is providing £5 million of capital investment to upgrade maternity services in Raigmore.
"Work is ongoing to ensure services are developed in a flexible and sustainable way recognising local population needs and geographic challenges.”
