500 more women a year to give birth at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness if £9 million NHS Highland maternity masterplan is realised
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Around 500 more women could give birth at Raigmore Hospital every year under plans to be discussed by NHS Highland today.
The estimate is found in the local health authority’s latest maternity and neonatal business case to be presented to the Scottish Government in a bid to secure a substantial part of over £9 million in extra funding needed.
The cash investment would secure an upgrading and expansion of maternity services at the Highlands’ flagship hospital “to establish clinically safe, sustainable and resilient maternity and neonatal pathways” for women and families accessing services.
It would contribute to aspirations to interlink care with NHS Grampian, allowing more women from Moray to choose to give birth in Inverness.
NHS Highland members will be asked to approve the latest business plan before submission to the Holyrood government to enable a start to building work as early as next month.
The document before members details how the refurbishment and reshaping of 3000 square metres of existing maternity units, along with the building of another 300 sq m capacity would allow for an additional 500 births and 15 neonatal admissions per year.
There would be five compliant cot spaces within the neonatal unit and seven fully compliant birthing rooms.
Total capital costs for the work proposed stands at an estimated £4,950,000, with a further £4,217,242 in revenue costs including spending of £3,792,632 on the expansion of the workforce including new doctors, nurses, midwives and other speciliasts.
Work would start on transforming the site next month with a planned June 2025 finishing date. The new services would operate from July 2025.
