NHS chief must go – Moray maternity campaigners
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LOCAL maternity unit campaigners have called for NHS Grampian's chief to resign and condemned the board for its "lack of commitment to the people of Moray".
The Keep MUM campaign group – fighting to restore consultant-led women’s and children’s services at Dr Gray’s Hospital – hit out after a pregnant Moray woman was sent 160 miles to a Fife hospital this week in the grip of a snow and ice warning. They said there were other "distressing" examples of women being transferred in labour from Dr Gray’s to other hospitals.
The group highlighted the predicament of 36 weeks' pregnant Samantha Sneddon (27), from Lossiemouth, who was sent in an ambulance three-and-a-half-hours away for monitoring to Kirkcaldy on Monday.
The group claimed the "outrageous" situation arose because Aberdeen Maternity Hospital was full and Raigmore Hospital's maternity unit was understaffed. They posed the question publicly to NHS Grampian's chief executive, Professor Amanda Croft: "do you find this acceptable?"
On Thursday, January 30, Keep MUM called for Prof Croft to resign immediately and urged the Scottish Government to set up an independent inquiry into the way NHS Grampian has handled maternity services in Elgin.
They accused NHS Grampian of an Aberdeen-biased approach and a lack of commitment to the people of Moray.
And they condemned the board for its "lack of forward planning, and failure to grasp problems and find solutions".
Dr Gray's maternity unit was downgraded due to staffing issues in July 2018, with "at-risk" women having to have their babies elsewhere. Scotland's Health Minister, Jeane Freeman, asked NHS Grampian to restore the unit to consultant status in August 2018. A gap in anaesthetic provision has recently been blamed for the delay in getting the full service back up and running.
An NHS Grampian spokesperson said: "When these situations arise, it has nothing to do with what the maternity services look like in any given hospital – it's about the potential neonatal needs of the unborn baby.
"NHS Grampian and neighbouring boards very occasionally have no capacity within their neonatal units. When this happens it becomes necessary to transfer women to the nearest unit with capacity to provide the specialist care needed for that baby.
"This is standard practice across Scotland and can happen regardless of the home location of the family or the model of care in place in the area. The safety and the appropriate clinical care of the baby once delivered are paramount and this is where the judgement of safety risk lies.
"Should this happen in Moray, it would not be linked to any changes in service at Dr Gray's Hospital but instead to neonatal clinical need.
"We want to reassure women that this is a very rare occurrence."
Moray Conservative MP Douglas Ross said the incident reinforced the urgency of the "completely unacceptable" situation.
He said: "It’s now been 18 months since the maternity unit at Dr Gray’s Hospital was downgraded and we were told it would be restored within a year – but there has been a complete failure to do that."
He said families in Moray have been "badly let down", adding: "For too long pregnant women in Moray have had the added stress and anxiety about the safe delivery of their babies because of this unsatisfactory situation.
"The Scottish Government and NHS Grampian have dragged their feet for far too long and we now need an urgent resolution."
Moray SNP MSP Richard Lochhead said: "There is growing concern over the time being taken to restore the consultant-led maternity service at Dr Gray’s and the local community is beyond frustrated and increasingly of the view that getting detailed information out of NHS management in terms of the steps being taken is like getting blood out of a stone.
"What started as a lack of trainee doctors has now spiralled into a multi-dimensional challenge – and that is the real worry given it’s so difficult to see light at the end of the tunnel given the lack of progress."
Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston has urged First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to intervene.
Mr Halcro Johnston said Ms Sturgeon must now instruct Ms Freeman to prioritise the restoration of local maternity services and reduce the risk of long journeys on dangerous roads.
He said: "It is completely unacceptable that people in Moray are still being treated like second-class citizens when it comes to the provision of maternity care.
"NHS Grampian remains Scotland’s worst funded health board, and their chief executive, Amanda Croft, was appointed only nine months ago by Jeane Freeman herself. If the problem is with the person at the top – as some have understandably argued – then that person is Jeane Freeman."
Keep MUM campaigners will meet Ms Freeman on Tuesday, February 11, after a meeting planned for January 24 in Elgin was cancelled.
