Kate Forbes told of plight of Caithness mums facing 100-mile journeys when in labour
Scotland's Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes, has been told about the “disastrous situation” faced by many Caithness mothers who have to travel to Inverness to give birth.
Iain Gregory, the vice-chairman of Caithness Health Action Team (CHAT), was one of three delegates who met Ms Forbes at Holyrood to discuss the need for an independent advocacy agency which would have the power to act on healthcare issues in remote and rural areas and deal directly with health boards.
The other two delegates were: Dr Gordon Baird from the Wigtownshire /Galloway Community Hospital Action Group and Neil Campbell from the Skye SOS-NHS.
Maree Todd, the Caithness, Sutherland and Ross MSP and Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport was unable to attend the meeting.
Mr Gregory, who pointed out that CHAT has been working closely with the other groups as part of the Rural Health Partnership Group, said it is “utterly impractical, and also dangerous, to expect a woman, about to have her baby, to travel well over 100 miles, at any time of the day or night, on hazardous roads, in all weathers, alone and in pain” and gave examples of cases where women had been “subjected to undue risk as a result”.
He highlighted the “very poor state of public roads in Caithness,” and raised the issue of the high cost of accommodation in Inverness. Mr Gregory said there is a serious issue in relation to access to mental health treatment and said it is to a person’s “severe detriment to be obliged to travel for many hours on unreliable public transport”.
The Caithness campaigner also wrote a letter to Ms Forbes after the meeting. He told her: “Since the downgrading of the maternity unit at Caithness General Hospital in Wick in 2016, there has been a total of 1556 births to Caithness mums, with only 133 of them taking place in Caithness, the other 1423 mothers being obliged to undergo the torturous and hazardous 100-mile plus journey to Inverness, in all weathers, and at all times of the day and night, with mothers in pain and distress. This simply cannot be acceptable.
“In 2023 there were 208 births – 12 were in Wick; 192 in Raigmore; one at home, and three being delivered before arrival at A&E. I think the statistics (and each statistic represents a new mum and baby) make the position abundantly clear. As we explained at our meeting, the risks are severe and, sooner or later, there will be a tragedy. It is not a case of if. It is a case of when.”
Mr Gregory also stressed that 7000 patients a year have to travel to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness for outpatient appointments, and highlighted the concerns over psychiatric and respite care in the far north.
He urged Ms Forbes to visit Caithness and discuss these issues with CHAT.