Community midwife team finds new Inverness home

Raigmore Hospital’s community midwife team has relocated into a new community hub in the grounds of New Craigs Hospital in Inverness.

The new midwife base located in the Clava building – an unused residential stand-alone ward – has provided many benefits for staff and patients, according to NHS Highland.

The base has four clinical rooms, offices for all the midwives and administrators, and a NearMe room so patients can be seen remotely. Each midwife also has their own phone, in a bid to make communication with patients and the rest of the team much easier.

Before the move, the team were based at Raigmore in a small room with a capacity for 10 workers, for a team of 15 midwives, one administrator, plus a group of infant feeding and other support workers. Over the last three years, the team had to travel every day to Culloden Dental Clinic to access two clinical rooms for their 800 patients a year.

Patients also had to go to Culloden, no matter where they lived, and because of Covid-19 restrictions there was no waiting room facility.

Now, there is a large waiting room where patients can relax before their appointments, giving them a more positive experience. With the enhanced space and new facilities, women have the opportunity to form relationships and find a midwife that is perfectly suited to them.

Lead midwife Carole Murphy said: “We are all really excited; the long-awaited move to Clava has given us just what we needed and more!

"The team are settling well into the new accommodation, and we hope to start implementing other small changes in the very near future. We have so many ideas of how to improve the midwifery care we offer to Inverness women. Currently, we are working towards running a robust antenatal education programme.”

Community midwife team leader Lin Borthwick said: “Community midwives are doing a fantastic job, and the women of the Inverness city community are so happy with the new base.”

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