Caithness maternity campaigners need more than ‘just warm words’ after public health minister Jenni Minto’s visit and damning UN and SHRC human rights reports

CAMPAIGNERS have told the public health minister that Caithness needs more than “just warm words” from the Scottish Government on maternity services.

Public and women’s health minister Jenni Minto met with members of Caithness Health Action Team (CHAT) on Wednesday, alongside local SNP MSP Maree Todd at a meeting also attended by Lib Dem MP Jamie Stone and Lib Dem Holyrood candidate for Caithness, David Green.

She told them that she would look at an independent review of maternity services but “made no further commitments.”

This week's meeting was called after Mr Stone and CHAT repeatedly demanded First Ministers going back to Nicola Sturgeon either order a safety audit of the journey expectant Caithness mothers have to make to Inverness, or drive the route themselves.

Two damning reports – one from the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) and the second from the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – found the current far north maternity service inadequate.

The SHRC said centralisation left expectant mothers feeling “unsafe” and “terrified”. In extreme cases women are said to have lost their fertility due to delays in reaching hospital in an emergency.

Then the UN committee raised concerns about “high rates of maternal mortality” and was highly critical of the “disparities in access to sexual and reproductive health services” affecting women and girls.

Campaigners believe the findings of both investigations mean the only course of action should be to restore full consultant-led services in the county.

Mr Stone said that he has been hearing promises since being elected in 2017 and the SNP has “exhausted that response for too long now”.

He added: “Listening, considering and reviewing is all well and good, but I’ve made it clear that I’ll settle for nothing less than the reinstatement of a consultancy-led maternity unit in Caithness.

“Caithness General was downgraded almost 10 years ago - that’s 10 years that this SNP government have had to think about the issue - and they’re really insisting that they need more time?

“If they think that a morning in Wick is an effective smokescreen for their inaction they’re wrong. They need to get serious about this and come up with a plan to protect the lives of mothers in the Far North.”

Mr Green added: "For women who have shared their harrowing experiences travelling to Inverness to give birth, it is action and not just warm words that is needed.

"As the UN has made clear in their report - which the Scottish Government has yet to respond to - this is a question of human rights.”

Councillor Ron Gunn, the chairman of Caithness Health Action Team (CHAT), said: “We emphasized that we now have met with health secretaries, government ministers and NHS Highland chief executives but nothing has changed in almost 10 years, still 90 per cent of our mums have to travel to Inverness to give birth.

“We finished by saying that we have been asking for an independent review of the maternity situation in Caithness for years, would she now consider this request. The minister said she could not promise one but would look at the possibility.

“CHATs patience is running out and we need Scottish Government action to improve the health situation for our community.”

Ms Todd said: “We heard a range of honest accounts. It was especially powerful to hear directly from mothers about their decision-making around childbirth and how they felt informed, supported, and empowered by the midwifery team to make the decisions that were right for them.

"We discussed the challenges posed by the long distance between Caithness and Inverness, and it was reassuring to hear about the practical steps being taken to address them — including the introduction of routine antenatal screening at Caithness General, making it the only hospital in Highland to offer this service outside of Raigmore.

“However, we know more needs to be done to support more women to give birth locally. Significant challenges remain, and neither I nor the Scottish Government are shying away from that.”

Ms Minto said: “I was pleased to meet maternity staff and service users and see the good work going on in the Community Midwifery Unit at Caithness General Hospital, the passion, professionalism and dedication of staff I spoke to is inspirational.

“It was useful to hear first hand from NHS Highland that they will be continuing to work closely with local people to ensure they provide a safe and sustainable maternity service that supports Caithness women throughout their pregnancy.

“The visit provided an opportunity to bring Caithness Health Action Team and NHS Highland together which will continue to support a programme of engagement, building a positive working relationship to influence real improvements for service users."

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.