Scottish Ministers have been warned against a hospital downgrade that could lead to the “insane situation” of sending sick newborns from Dundee to Aberdeen.
In July 2023, the Scottish Government announced it would cut the number of neonatal intensive care units (NICU) from eight to three.
Ninewells Hospital will be downgraded to a level 2 unit, with the most premature and sickest babies transferred to upgraded premises in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen by the end of 2026.
The decision was taken seven years after the publication of the Best Start report in 2017, which recommended three to five top-tier NICUs in Scotland.
During a Holyrood debate on the implications for families and services in the future, SNP minister Jenni Minto said it is now for “regional chief executives to plan for this national model to be implemented locally.”
Tess White, Scottish Conservative MSP for the North East, pointed to the importance of Ninewells for newborns from around Tayside, following years of maternity service closures in Angus, including Montrose community midwifery in 2016, the Fyfe-Jamieson in Forfar in 1993, and the end of maternity at the town’s Whitehills shortly after mums were sent there. A replacement Montrose unit for north Angus was also scrapped in 2013.
She said: “When previous closures have taken place in Angus, it has been with the facility at Ninewells in the background, a safety net for the most difficult births in the community.
“Like many of the Tayside centralised services, specialism has come at the cost of long drives, bus journeys, ambulance trips — or plain old inaccessibility if you don’t have a car.
“If Ninewells loses its top status for NICU, it could lead to an insane situation where mums living in Dundee with sick babies will be sent 66 miles via the A90 to Aberdeen.
“That means, as most constituents know, and mums and fathers know, navigating the Forfar Road and half the Kingsway which is often at a standstill for hours of the day.
“Surely resourcing NHS Tayside is the best outcome, focusing on recruitment and retention rather than the erosion of healthcare.
“If even one tragedy can be averted by having a full local NICU then why take the risk?”
