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Publication - Research and analysis

Miscarriage Care and Facilities in Scotland: Scoping Report NHS Highland

Published
29 November 2023
From
Director-General Education and Justice
Directorate
Children and Families Directorate
ISBN
9781835216262

This report details the findings of a scoping exercise to better understand miscarriage care in Scotland within this Health Board. The individual Health Board reports and the national report seek to aid policy makers and Health Boards in making decisions about improvements to Miscarriage Care

View supporting documents Supporting documents

Findings

Miscarriage care services in Scotland

In Scotland women experiencing miscarriage present at many different locations. This includes: GP practices, Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments, Maternity Units, Community Maternity units (CMU)[5], Early Pregnancy Units (EPU), and midwifery services more generally. Women can call in advance or present in person for the first time at this range of settings.

Within the 14 Health Board areas in Scotland, numerous secondary care sites that could provide miscarriage care in Scotland were identified. These were checked by the lead professional for miscarriage care in each Health Board to ensure they were secondary care sites that may be the first point of contact for women experiencing miscarriage. This resulted in 44 sites being identified. The sites are listed in Annex A. Table 1 shows the number of sites identified for each Health Board.

Table 1: Number of sites where women experiencing miscarriage in Scotland may be seen
Health Board Number of sites
NHS Ayrshire and Arran 3
NHS Borders 1
NHS Dumfries and Galloway 2
NHS Fife 1
NHS Forth Valley 1
NHS Grampian 6
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 5
NHS Highland 12
NHS Lanarkshire 3
NHS Lothian 2
NHS Orkney 1
NHS Shetland 1
NHS Tayside 3
NHS Western Isles 3
Total 44

Table 2 below lists the secondary care services that are available across the 44 sites and details the services available within the 14 Health Board areas.

Table 2: Services for miscarriage care in Scotland
Services Early Pregnancy Unit Maternity Unit Community Maternity Unit Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department Accident & Emergency Department Recurrent miscarriage services Infertility services
Total All Sites 17 19 21 21 37 13 14
All Health Boards 10 14 7 14 14 11 12
NHS Ayrshire and Arran 1 1 1 1 3 1 1
NHS Borders 1 1 0 1 1 1 1
NHS Dumfries and Galloway 0 1 0 1 2 1 2
NHS Fife 1 1 0 1 1 1 1
NHS Forth Valley 1 1 1 1 1 0 1
NHS Grampian 2 2 3 2 4 1 1
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 5 4 4 4 4 2 2
NHS Highland 1 1 8 1 10 1 0
NHS Lanarkshire 2 1 0 2 3 1 1
NHS Lothian 2 2 0 2 2 2 1
NHS Orkney 0 1 0 1 1 1 1
NHS Shetland 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
NHS Tayside 1 1 3 2 1 1 1
NHS Western Isles 0 1 1 1 3 0 0

Services within NHS Highland

In NHS Highland twelve sites were identified that could come into contact with women experiencing miscarriage, these are:

  • Raigmore Hospital
  • Dr MacKinnon Memorial Hospital – Broadford Hospital (A&E)
  • Victoria Hospital
  • Mull & Iona Community Hospital
  • Mid Argyll Community Hospital and Integrated Care Centre
  • Lorn & Islands Hospital
  • Islay Hospital
  • Cowal Community Hospital (A&E) (Dunoon Hospital previously)
  • Campbeltown Hospital
  • Nairn Town and County Hospital
  • Caithness General Hospital
  • Belford Hospital

Where most women present for the first time when experiencing a miscarriage differs depending on the site, these include; A&E , GP, midwifery team, Community Midwifery Unit or Early Pregnancy Unit (EPU). Women experiencing miscarriage would be seen at the EPU at Raigmore Hospital. Within several other sites women are initially seen in A&E or by the midwifery team. The services provided at the twelve secondary care sites where women may present when experiencing miscarriage are detailed in Table 3 below.

Table 3: Services for Miscarriage care in NHS Highland
Services Early Pregnancy Unit Maternity Unit Community Maternity Unit Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department Accident & Emergency Department Recurrent miscarriage services Infertility services Other
Raigmore Hospital Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No None
Dr. MacKinnon Memorial Hospital – Broadford Hospital (A&E) No No Yes No Yes No No None
Victoria Hospital No No Yes No Yes No No None
Mull & Iona Community Hospital No No No No Yes No No None
Mid Argyll Community Hospital and Integrated Care Centre No No Yes No Yes No No None
Lorn & Islands Hospital No No Yes No Yes No No None
Islay Hospital No No No No Yes No No None
Cowal Community Hospital (A&E) No No Yes No Yes No No None
Campbeltown Hospital No No Yes No Yes No No None
Nairn Town and County Hospital No No No No No No No None
Caithness General Hospital No No Yes No Yes No No Yes – dedicated midwife for early pregnancy complications in conjunction with ultrasound department and A&E
Belford Hospital No No Yes No No No No None

Sites in Argyll and Bute

Victoria Hospital, Mull & Iona Community Hospital, Mid Argyll Community Hospital and Integrated Care Centre, Lorn & Islands Hospital, Islay Hospital, Cowal Community Hospital (A&E) and Campbeltown Hospital are all located in Argyll and Bute. Although these sites in Argyll and Bute are part of NHS Highland, the services for miscarriage care and pregnancy complications are provided jointly through the local community maternity units and general practice in NHS Highland and via a service level agreement with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Women are consulted on their choices and preferences for care. Responses for all sites in Argyll and Bute are grouped together in the remainder of this report, as the same pathway of care is followed in Argyll and Bute. The services provided by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are explained in more detail in the report Miscarriage care and facilities in Scotland: scoping report - NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Contact

Email: socialresearch@gov.scot

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