Campaigners welcome UN maternity services report

A campaign group for improved access to maternity support in Caithness has welcomed UN recommendations on health services in rural areas.

The community-led Caithness Health Action Team (Chat) has been leading calls for the restoration of a consultant-led maternity service in Wick.

A report by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has raised concerns about "high rates of maternal mortality" and "disparities in access to sexual and reproductive health services" affecting women and girls in remote areas.

NHS Highland said it provided as many gynaecology and maternity procedures as it could in Caithness General Hospital.

The Geneva-based UN committee has been examining a number of issues related to human rights across the United Kingdom.

In a section on sexual and reproductive health rights, the committee said women and girls in "peripheral and remote areas" were adversely affected by maternal mortality and disparities in access to sexual and reproductive services and information.

It recommended that the governments of the UK "increase efforts to ensure equal access to maternal health services" for migrant women and women from ethnic minority groups.

It also recommended that facilities be properly equipped for antenatal, perinatal and postnatal care, "particularly in rural areas".

The report went on to say that the availability of sexual and reproductive services should be strengthened, particularly for women and girls in rural and remote areas.

Chat has been campaigning for consultant-led maternity support to return to Wick.

The service was replaced by a midwife-led unit in 2016 because of safety concerns.

People in the north Highlands can face round trips of 210 miles (338km) or more to give birth in Inverness.

Chat campaigner Iain Gregory said the UN report provided "a huge amount of extra support" and he hoped the intervention would bring changes to the current arrangement.

He said the UN committee considered written submissions by Chat in the process of writing the report.

A spokesperson for NHS Highland said it provided as many gynaecology and maternity procedures as it could in Caithness General Hospital.

The health board added that it had increased the midwifery team in Wick, with high risk or complex cases continuing to be referred to Inverness.

The Scottish government said it was considering the recommendations of the report carefully.