A respected retired GP has hit out at the coverage of the Caithness maternity services after quotes in the media by Liberal Democrat politicians.
In the wake of an independent 2016 report commissioned by NHS Highland and conducted by Professor Draper of the University of Leicester, the Caithness General Hospital’s maternity services were moved to a midwife-led service with Raigmore Hospital in Inverness acting as a central hub.
Since then, some local press and politicians have produced multiple stories criticising NHS Highland, the Highland Council and the Scottish Government.
However, retired general practitioner, Elizabeth Scargall have questioned both the accuracy and the motivation behind the coverage.
“It is clear,” Dr Scargall began, “that journalist Scott Maclennan, Liberal Democrat Councillor Ron Gunn, Lib Dem MSP wannabe David Green and Liberal Democrat MP Jamie Stone are all unhappy with Caithness Maternity services.
“The articles do rather beg the question, did any of this merry band actually read Prof Draper’s epistle?”
Scargall continues:
“The 2016 report in question was commissioned by NHS Highland in response to the death of an infant in 2015.
“There had, in fact, been a total of five perinatal deaths to consider.
“This rigorous report was conducted by the Public Health Directorate in consultation with Professor Draper (University of Leicester).
“Central to the report is the safety of mothers and babies, which surely must always be paramount.
“One has only to listen to the current news where an emergency review of maternity services covering numerous health authorities in England has been commissioned, to be grateful for NHS Highland’s foresight.
“What has changed since 2016 to make a further report desirable with its attendant costs?
“The geography remains the same (comparing Caithness to the Central Belt is like comparing apples and oranges – invalid).
“The birth rate has fallen (as has the birth rate across the whole country).
“The likelihood of attracting suitably qualified and experienced obstetricians, obstetric anaesthetists and neonatologists is vanishingly small.”
As Dr Scargall explains:
“The report is peppered with statements such as “a small mainland catchment population such as this is too small to be served by an obstetric unit with onsite obstetricians”, “there is insufficient work in CGH for obstetricians and paediatricians to maintain their skills”.
“The old adage of “use it or lose it” was never more appropriate.
“There is no specialist neonatal, nor any high dependency adult unit support on site for mums who get into difficulty.
“Some of the clinical activity at CGH prior to its reassignment as a midwife led unit fell outwith best practice as defined by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE).
“The deviation from what was considered best practice was significant e.g. the proportion of elective caesarean sections was at 23% compared to the Scottish average of 14%.
“Every intervention carries a risk.
“The review panel concluded that “67% of problems identified in the audit of case notes would probably have been avoided if CGH had been operating as a midwife-led CMU”.
“This is about SAFETY.
“The report also highlighted the effects of high rates of socio-economic deprivation experienced by the Caithness population, a rate twice that of Highland region overall.
“Surely Scott Maclennan and his Lib Dem cronies would serve the Caithness population better by addressing this.
“So what happens in other remote areas of the Highlands?
“Skye has a midwife led unit and similar distances for patients to travel to Raigmore.
“The hub and spoke model with Raigmore as the hub seems to serve this population well.
“I am left wondering if this is an example of unscrupulous politicians exploiting the fears of a vulnerable group of women?
“Certainly, there is more than a whiff of misogyny on display.”
