Caithness mum tells Humza Yousaf about worry and stress caused by maternity downgrading
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Scotland's health secretary Humza Yousaf has been given a first-hand account of the impact on families caused by the downgrading of Caithness maternity services after coming face to face with a young local mother and her baby.
The woman broke down as she spoke about the worry and stress of having to travel to Inverness to give birth, and Mr Yousaf was said to have been moved by her story.
The emotionally charged encounter happened in Wick on Monday as the health secretary held an hour-long meeting with Caithness Health Action Team (CHAT). Mr Yousaf also indicated that a review would be carried out.
CHAT chairman Ron Gunn said later that a range of healthcare issues had been covered and he described the meeting as "a very worthwhile exercise".
The consultant-led maternity unit at Caithness General Hospital in Wick was downgraded in 2016 to a midwife-led facility and most women in the far north now give birth at Raigmore.
Six representatives of CHAT attended the meeting in Wick's Norseman Hotel.
“We were delighted that he came up," Mr Gunn said. "It was a very open meeting. He allowed us to say what we wanted to say and he answered a few questions.
“The ace up our sleeve was that a local mother and her four-month-old baby came along and she was absolutely fantastic. She gave her experiences of her pregnancy and the way she was treated in Raigmore, and the lassie actually broke down.
“He was moved – he was visibly moved hearing the story.
"She covered the worry and the stress about having to go down the road and how it affected her family.
“We all know the problems going down the A9. She actually turned and said to him, 'You came up by car – what did you think of the journey? Would you expect your wife to go through that?'
“She was really brilliant."
Mr Gunn added: “He [Mr Yousaf] said afterwards, 'Wow, I wasn't expecting that. But it was really good to get it straight from the person – her experience, her emotional situation, how it affected her.'"
CHAT had pointed out that 92 per cent of local mothers have to go to Inverness to give birth. Ideally the campaigners would wish to see a return to a consultant-led maternity service in Wick but feel that the Orkney model – a midwife-led unit supported by consultants – would work for Caithness.
Around 80 per cent of Orkney mothers give birth in their local area. Mr Yousaf was visiting Orkney on Tuesday.
Mr Gunn said: “He knew all about the Orkney model which we have been pushing for years.
“He said he would keep us in the loop. He is going to meet NHS Highland in the next two or three days and he will be bringing up a lot of the issues that we raised.”
Other topics included the centralisation of services and the number of people having to travel from Caithness to Inverness for outpatient appointments, as well as concerns over the patient transfer service.
“I said to him we were shocked that last year NHS Highland spent almost half a million pounds on taxis delivering prescriptions from Inverness to people in the Highlands," Mr Gunn said.
“I think it was a very worthwhile exercise. We're delighted that somebody is finally listening to us.
"As the headline in the paper said: 'Will you listen?' He has listened, and I believe he will act on what he was told."
CHAT has been calling for an independent review of maternity services similar to the one carried out in relation to Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin.
“He basically said there is going to be a review," Mr Gunn said.
"We have obviously been asking for an independent review. He said, 'I can't commit to an independent review right away but I can say there is going to be a review.'
“We would love a completely independent one but it's up to him what it is going to be. He basically agreed that we need to look at this.
"He is not happy with the situation in Raigmore, the maternity side of things. He has met the consultants down there who were not happy about the increased numbers coming from Moray, plus the Caithness mothers coming down, so he is aware of that.
“There have only been four births [in Caithness] this year. We said to him we can't understand why 90-odd per cent of the mothers have to go down the road – they can't all be high risk."
Mr Gunn added: “I'm optimistic at the moment. It all sounds good."
Earlier during his visit to Wick, the health secretary had met members of the North Highland Women’s Wellbeing Hub.
Mr Yousaf said later: “I am pleased to have been able to meet the members of CHAT and North Highland Women’s Wellbeing Hub in Caithness and to have had the opportunity to discuss the important issues relating to maternity and healthcare provision in the area.
"I have every sympathy with the position of the women I met with today and will do everything we can to help. Clearly the key priority is that the care provided to mothers and babies is as safe as possible.
“It has been imperative for me to hear directly from those most affected and I am grateful to have had the chance to hear the work that both groups are doing. Meeting those with lived experience is important to ensure we learn from the knowledge and how the community has been impacted.”
He added: “The Best Start North review, commissioned by the health boards covering the Highlands, Grampian and the islands, looked to carry out a review of the resources, constraints, challenges and opportunities in the current systems for maternity and neonatal services. Following a pause due to the pandemic, the review work has resumed and I am really keen to see this progressed as soon as possible and I will be interested to hear more about this as this progresses.”
