Jamie Stone vows to keep fighting for women’s healthcare equality
Jamie Stone has pledged to continue speaking up on healthcare for women, arguing that females deserve equal access to services regardless of where they live.
On International Women’s Day, he also recalled his late mother’s tireless work as a campaigner for breast cancer screening.
Mr Stone has raised concerns about the adequacy of women’s health services in the Highlands in his current role as an MP and in his previous capacity as an MSP.
Last year, Mr Stone led the first adjournment debate of the new parliament on rural healthcare access.
During the debate, the Liberal Democrat MP criticised the level of health provisions for women in his constituency following the downgrading of the consultant-led Caithness maternity unit – which has meant the vast majority of pregnant women from the far north have to make an often arduous 100-mile journey to Inverness to give birth.
Mr Stone also underlined the “poor access to additional women’s health services”, as a routine trip to see a gynaecologist and get a diagnosis for an ovarian cyst, or endometriosis, means travelling the same distance.
Last November, a report by the Scottish Human Rights Commission branded sexual and reproductive health services in Caithness and Sutherland as critical.
Mr Stone has secured a meeting with Scotland’s minister for public health and women’s health, Jenni Minto, this month to address what he sees as inadequacies in women’s healthcare in rural Highland communities.
Remembering his late mother Susannah Stone’s work for the same issues, Mr Stone spoke of his pride in her advocacy for breast cancer screening.
Mrs Stone founded a group of women volunteers who campaigned successfully for the return of a breast scanning service in Easter Ross.
Mr Stone said: “On International Women’s Day, I’m proud to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.
“Above all else, women deserve equality, including equality in access to adequate healthcare – regardless of where they live.
“This week I was shocked and saddened to hear of the untimely death of a lady who worked in a supermarket in my constituency. She was somebody who had fought off cancer and was in remission – but then as time went by, unbeknown to her, the cancer returned.
“By the time she started to get treatment, it had spread. It was tragically too late.
“My late mother was a great campaigner in the north of Scotland for breast cancer screening for women. In her memory, I do believe that on International Women’s Day we need to concentrate on women’s health checks.
“Who knows, my friend in the supermarket might still be here had she had better access to early screening.
“I’m proud of what my mother achieved, and I’m proud to continue advocating for better health services for women in the far north and, indeed, the rest of the UK.”
