Raigmore journeys ‘clearly not sustainable’ for Caithness mums
Healthcare campaigners have warned it is “clearly not sustainable” to expect hundreds of mothers from the far north to travel to and from Raigmore while only a small number are able to have their babies locally.
They are also calling for “far more medical services” to be made available at Caithness General Hospital in Wick.
Caithness Health Action Team (CHAT) spoke out after joining forces with action groups in Galloway and Skye in writing to MSPs and national newspapers in Scotland seeking support for their efforts to establish a Scottish rural health advocacy agency.
The letters were signed jointly by Dr Angela Armstrong and Dr Gordon Baird, of Galloway Community Hospital Action Group, Neil Campbell, of Save Our Services in Skye, and Iain Gregory, vice-chairman of CHAT.
It follows the presentation of a petition to the Scottish Government in March 2023 asking parliament “to urge the Scottish Government to create an agency to ensure that health boards offer ‘fair’ and ‘reasonable’ management of rural and remote healthcare issues”.
In their letter to editors, the campaigners write: “Rural Scotland is awash with health boards’ inaction following expensive reviews: Skye and Wigtownshire acute services; Wigtownshire cancer; and Caithness and Wigtownshire maternity reveal a need to change, yet years later remain undelivered.
“Data shows rural cancer patients get less specialist care with poorer survival. Unaccompanied roadside births in transit are increasing for rural women. A&E services in Skye have recently been cut with a near-miss fatality incident.”
The groups argue that “other countries, many less rural, have formalised advocacy with great success”. They claim that rejection of the petition “effectively ensures the deterioration of rural healthcare”, meaning that “avoidable physical, emotional and financial consequences, including mortality, will persist”.
Speaking on behalf of CHAT, Mr Gregory said: “There is no doubt that we need a Scottish healthcare advocacy agency to be created, an agency that is able to work effectively to ensure that policy implementation by health boards is both ‘fair’ and ‘reasonable’ – both of which are statutory requirements – for rural and remote communities, as well as for those who live in population centres.
“We have met recently with MSPs Maree Todd, Rhoda Grant and Edward Mountain, and I do not think anyone would disagree with our argument that there is an overwhelming need for local access to maternity services, and indeed for as many types of treatment and care as possible, to be delivered in the county.
“Maria Aitken [CHAT secretary] and I also met last week with Dr Luis F Yanes, of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, and will be doing so again shortly. We discussed the need to take a human rights-based approach to the issues facing people in the county, and we look forward to the publication of the commission’s report on economic, social and cultural rights in the Highlands and Islands, which includes a focus on health.”
He added: “CHAT is totally committed to improving access to care locally. The situation where hundreds of new mums must travel to and from Raigmore, with only a very small number being able to have their babies locally, is clearly not sustainable, and we hope to see far more medical services made available at Caithness General Hospital.
“Maria Aitken and I also had a valuable and productive meeting last week with senior representatives of NHS Highland and discussed these matters in detail.
“We look forward to working closely with NHS Highland and all local MSPs in the future, with a view to addressing the wishes and needs of Caithness mums-to-be and indeed all residents.”
Mr Gregory, along with Dr Baird and Mr Campbell, met Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes at Holyrood in May to discuss the need for an independent advocacy agency.
In a letter to Ms Forbes in August, health secretary Neil Gray listed a number of Scottish Government healthcare initiatives.
Mr Gray also wrote: “We know that rural [and] islands communities face significant and unique challenges, which impact access to health services, such as access to reliable digital infrastructure, availability of affordable, local housing, access to regular and reliable public transport, coupled with demographic challenges.
“The Scottish Government is committed to developing a sustainable health and social care system that ensures people get the right care, at the right time, in the right place.
“Healthcare planning and service delivery models must be adapted to meet the widely differing health needs of remote, rural and island communities and overcome the challenges of geographic spread, low population density, limited infrastructure and develop an in-depth understanding of the significantly higher costs of rural and remote healthcare delivery.”
CHAT has established that eight clinics previously offered at Caithness General Hospital are no longer available there. These are urology, neurology, oral, rehabilitation, rheumatology, respiratory, vascular and dermatology.
CHAT had lodged a Freedom of Information request in August asking NHS Highland for details of medical services that were available at the Wick hospital prior to March 2020 but which now require patients to travel to Raigmore.
At the same time, CHAT was told that ophthalmology, ENT, orthodontic, orthopaedic and paediatric clinics had “significantly reduced in frequency”.