Swinney has rejected a maternity public inquiry. Bereaved families say a forward-looking review cannot answer the past.
The First Minister backed a nine-month national review after Parliament heard that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde recorded 736 serious adverse events, 406 involving a death.
The Sensible One has put two folders on the table. One asks how Scotland should improve maternity care. The other asks what happened to families who say the system failed them. They are related folders. They are not the same folder.
At First Minister’s Questions on Tuesday, Labour MSP Jackie Baillie said NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde recorded 736 serious adverse events in maternity and neonatal services between 2019 and 2025, with 406 involving a death. Those figures were presented in Parliament. They do not mean that 406 deaths were caused by poor care, or that 406 were avoidable. That distinction matters precisely because the numbers are so grave.
Baillie raised the case of Julie Keegan and Angus McLean, whose three-day-old son Mason died at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in 2023 after errors in his care. The couple joined more than 100 parents and supporters in Glasgow on Sunday to demand a public inquiry. Campaigners argue that local serious adverse event reviews have not supplied the accountability or common picture they need.
