Caithness campaigners set out key demands to maternity services review chair
Scotland’s review of maternity services must fully examine the loss of consultant-led maternity services in Caithness, the impact this has had on women and their families, and the scope for restoring those services, campaigners have said.
After years of pressure, the Scottish Government announced the maternal and child health expert Professor Christine McCourt is to lead a review into improving maternity services across Scotland.
The announcement by the Health Secretary to the Scottish Parliament in June follows MSPs backing a Scottish Liberal Democrat amendment calling for an independent review of maternity services in Caithness.
In a joint letter from Caithness Health Action Team and the county’s local MP and MSP, Professor McCourt is being urged to visit Caithness and experience first-hand the 100-mile round trip along the A9 that many women face when travelling to give birth at Raigmore Hospital.
The campaigners are seeking assurances that the review will proceed at pace, with a published timetable setting out key milestones, and meaningful community involvement.
Consultant-led maternity services were first removed from Caithness General Hospital in 2016. This means that women in the Far North now face a 100-mile journey down the A9 to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness to give birth.
Only six births took place at Caithness General Hospital in 2025. The Scottish Human Rights Commission also intervened in 2024, warning in a report that the right to health in the Far North was seriously inadequate with regards to accessibility and availability.
David Green, the MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, said:
“I welcome Professor McCourt as this review’s independent chair, a role we have fought hard to secure. We need the review to move with pace, openness and put the voices of women and communities across the Far North at its heart.
“A journey of up to 100 miles to give birth is not simply a question of distance - it impacts safety, choice, and family life.
“This review must be more than an opportunity to gather evidence. It must lead to meaningful action and ensure that maternity services in Caithness are shaped around the needs of women and their families.”
Far North MSP Jamie Stone added:
“This review is an important opportunity to right a long-standing wrong for families in Caithness. After years of campaigning, it is vital that it moves quickly, listens to local people and properly examines the case for restoring consultant-led maternity services.
"Too many women are still being forced to travel long distances to give birth. That simply cannot continue.
“I will keep working alongside my colleague David Green and the local campaigners at CHAT until families in the Far North have the safe, local maternity care they deserve."
Ron Gunn, Chair of Caithness Health Action Team, said:
“Since the downgrading of our maternity services in 2016, CHAT has met with numerous NHS Highland Chief Executives, Scottish Cabinet Secretaries for Health, and other government ministers, informing them that the current maternity model is simply not working for the mums and families of Caithness.
“We have repeatedly asked - without ever receiving an answer - why so many of our mums-to-be have to travel 110 miles on the hazardous A9 to Inverness to give birth, in all weathers and road conditions. Every single year since 2016, over 90% of North mums-to-be have had to make the journey south.
“After years of campaigning for an independent review, we are delighted to hear that Professor McCourt has been appointed as Chair.”
ENDS.