Holyrood Committee to visit Wishaw baby unit amid centralisation plans

MSPs on the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee will meet local families and staff at the neonatal unit on Monday 8th September. The visit will support the Committee’s evidence gathering in response to the petition PE2099: Stop the proposed centralisation of specialist neonatal units in NHS Scotland.

Committee Convener, Jackson Carlaw, said:

“This is an important visit as we seek to understand the impact of Scottish Government plans to downgrade neonatal units across Scotland, including the specialist service provided at Wishaw.

“We look forward to having the opportunity to discuss the issues raised by the petition with the petitioner, local families and staff.”

The Scottish Government published The Best Start: A five-year forward plan for Maternity and Neonatal Care in Scotland in 2017. One of its key recommendations was to centralise specialist services by reducing the number of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) from eight to three, with University Hospital Wishaw amongst the hospitals to see its NICU downgraded.

The Scottish Government responded to petition PE2099 in a letter to the Committee on 1 September.

In the letter, Minister for Public Health and Women's Health, Jenni Minto, said:

“We have continued to be proactive in listening to the concerns of both the clinical teams and the public throughout Scotland and what is clear from the clinical community is an agreement that the new model of neonatal care will give the smallest and sickest babies in Scotland the best chance of survival.”

Read the letter from the Minister for Public and Women's Health (100KB, pdf) posted 02 September 2025