Neonatal Intensive Care Units

Part of Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 11 September 2024.

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Photo of Richard Leonard Richard Leonard Labour

I thank the minister for her reply, but let us get the facts straight here. The proposal to downgrade the neonatal unit at Wishaw hospital is based on inconsistent, old and inaccurate data, a flawed methodology, and excluded any consultation with parents and families.

This morning, the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee considered a petition from those same parents and families. As a result, the committee has agreed to go on a site visit. Why has Scotland’s Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health never done the same? Will she now visit the Wishaw specialist neonatal intensive care unit, speak to staff and listen to their concerns? Will she review again her decision to downgrade the unit in Wishaw in the light of deliverability, capacity and resilience issues that risk not only the human rights but the human lives of those affected?