Country news: Scotland

News and updates from RCM Scotland by director Mary Ross-Davie (MidwivesAutumn 2018).

Pay:

As I write, midwives and MSW members of the RCM in Scotland have accepted the negotiated proposals for those on the Agenda for Change staff pay. The announcement follows a consultation with members where a large majority (95%) of respondents voted to accept the proposals for staff in the NHS in Scotland. The deal means that the value of the top pay point of Bands 1 to 8C will increase by 9% cumulatively over three years from 2018-19 to 2020-21. We think the deal is a good start and will go some way to address the real terms pay drop we have experienced over the last few years.

Networks:

The Scotland network for early career midwives, the First Five Years Forum, has now met twice and the members are working hard on developing new guidance on successfully supporting NQMs.

We have asked for midwives to apply to join our new Perinatal Mental Health Forum and this will meet for the first time in September. And the Scottish Midwifery Unit Network, which we support, will also be meeting in September.

Celebrations:

We have enjoyed celebrating some significant dates over the last few months – starting with International Day of the Midwife events all over Scotland.

The RCM Scotland team spent the day with a good few of you at the MaMa conference in Glasgow and we were delighted that RCM patron HRH The Princess Royal visited University Hospital Wishaw to officially open their new alongside midwifery unit.

It was also great to see the RCM tapestry panel, which has toured the whole of Scotland as part of celebrations to mark the centenary of the Midwives Scotland Act in 2015, and to see the panel joining the Great Tapestry of Scotland on a permanent basis.

In July we celebrated the 70th birthday of the NHS with the maternity team in Glasgow and then with representatives from all over Scotland at a reception in Edinburgh, along with the Duke of Cambridge and the first minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Awards:

Time is running out to put yourself or your team forward for both the RCM awards or the Scottish Health awards. There are lots of categories and we hope to see great success for Scotland again.