Caithness maternity care questions still not answered
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Answers are still needed to address maternity care in Caithness despite the latest move forward to enhance services at the region’s main hospital.
Planning permission has been granted for an expansion of maternity wards and services at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
It is understood the £5 million cost for new and upgraded buildings – to be completed by 2025 – would then necessitate another £3.8 million being spent on 56 extra staff, including doctors, consultants, nurses, midwives and other specialists.
Improvements include the creation of seven new birthing rooms and associated en-suites; the creation of clinical examination and consulting rooms and a re-configuring of the birthing suite and special care baby unit (SCBU).
NHS Highland says the expansion will enable more women from Caithness, as well as Moray, to give birth in the Highland capital.
A spokeswoman for the health board said: “The refurbishment of our maternity unit at Raigmore is required to meet the needs of women across Highland and Moray.
“In order to meet the modern space requirements a small extension is needed to accommodate the increased size of birthing rooms needed.
“It will bring our maternity unit to modern standards and provide a better experience for mums and the staff providing the service.
“We are pleased that our engagement with Highland Council planners has been successful and are grateful for their support on this project.”
Elements of maternity care were transferred from Caithness General Hospital in 2016 and from Moray in 2018.
This week local representatives said that, while the move to improve facilities at Raigmore is welcome, a better answer still has to be found for Caithness.
Ron Gunn, chairman of Caithness Health Action Team (CHAT) and Lib Dem councillor for Thurso and North-west Caithness said: “The disproportion of women who have to travel the A9 south is really incredible, more than 90 per cent are considered to be ‘complex births’ and that really is not a tenable figure.
“But for us in Caithness this development is very concerning if its motivation is to see more not less births from the county at Raigmore, which of course deserves the best possible facilities – as do we in Caithness.”
Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said: “This step forward is welcome and I know it will come as a relief to many mothers, families and NHS staff.
“The current maternity unit in Raigmore is not fit for purpose for modern maternity care so this expansion is welcome.”
However she added: “I will continue to campaign for full maternity services to be reinstated in Caithness.
“This is something the Scottish Government have, so far, failed to agree to.
“Modern facilities are welcome however, travelling 100-plus miles to get to them is unacceptable – this is the equivalent of asking Edinburgh mothers to give birth in Newcastle.
“We have seen in recent weeks road closures on the A9 north meaning any woman in labour would not be able to get to Raigmore Hospital at that time.”
Conservative MSP Edward Mountain said: “Now that planning has been approved it is critical for NHS Highland to lay out their plans for the maternity and obstetrics departments during the construction of these facilities as they will undoubtedly be affected.
“What is also clear is that a major recruitment drive should also be implemented immediately, so that when the upgraded department is opened there are sufficient midwives and consultants to run it.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Safe maternity care as close to home as practicable is vital.
“We recognise the challenges facing remote and rural health boards, which is why the Scottish Government is providing £5 million of capital investment to upgrade maternity services in Raigmore.
“Work is ongoing to ensure services are developed in a flexible and sustainable way recognising local population needs and geographic challenges.”
