Meeting of the Parliament 16 January 2025
I congratulate Tim Eagle on bringing this crucial topic to the chamber.
Living in rural Scotland remains a massive challenge and it is certainly not getting any easier, thanks to the centralist approach that the SNP Government is taking. I was born and raised and, thankfully, still live in beautiful Galloway, so I know the many benefits of residing in a rural community, not least of which are the stunning scenery, the abundance of fresh air and—which is most important—being part of the strong bond that rural communities represent.
However, the pros are rapidly being overtaken by the cons, especially when it comes to accessing health and social care, for starters. People are having to travel greater distances to access an ever-increasing range of services that are often taken for granted by people who live in towns and cities. We are seriously struggling to recruit and retain staff across a wide spectrum of skills, from dentistry to midwifery to nursing and social care staff. The large number of unfilled vacancies places an even greater strain on an already under pressure NHS workforce.
As we heard earlier in a members’ business debate that was brought to the chamber by Rhoda Grant, the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s 2024 report on the Highlands and Islands highlighted the pervasive issues of rooflessness, hunger and limited access to healthcare. Although the report’s findings are specific to the Highlands and Islands, they resonate deeply with us in Galloway.
I am delighted that the commission will now look more closely at similar problems that are being experienced in my constituency. Access to healthcare remains a significant challenge where long waiting times and limited availability of services are barriers to the care that residents need. That is not only a violation of their rights, but a threat to their health and wellbeing.
As in other rural and remote communities, there is a serious crisis in midwifery, particularly in Wigtownshire, which I have raised on countless previous occasions in the chamber. According to two former GPs—Dr Gordon Baird and Dr Rod White, to whom I am indebted for their forthright opinions and advice—the current maternity arrangements fall well below any minimum standard.
NHS Dumfries and Galloway’s integration joint board carried out a review to examine the current system, which has failed women and families for the past six years and has led to many distressing stories of roadside deliveries and dashes to the maternity hospital in Dumfries. Women in labour are simply being told to bypass their local community hospital’s accident and emergency department and, with no access to a local midwife out of hours, are forced to travel up to 90 miles along the A75. It should be pointed out that Stranraer is in many ways deprived. There, 40 per cent of people lack access to personal transport—never mind public transport—so we can add that to the equation in getting to Dumfries, which might involve waiting for an ambulance.
It is little wonder that Dr Baird and Dr White insist that, without appropriate action, the system falls way below any minimum standard that could be regarded as fair or reasonable. They insist that the integration joint board’s review was not independent in its structure or conclusions.
Data has often been ineptly handled to mislead politicians. Indeed, the board’s record on implementation of such reviews affecting Wigtownshire, including on the future of our four cottage hospitals, is dismal, to say the least. As well as overruling mothers-to-be, who wanted the birthing suite at the Galloway community hospital to reopen, and instead forcing them to make that journey to Dumfries, the IJB ignored the findings of an independent review that was carried out by health experts from Ayrshire, which recommended that local maternity facilities be reopened.
All of that flies in the face of the advice of Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, Jenny Minto and, indeed, that of Maree Todd, who visited Stranraer and who wrote to me last October, stating:
“The Scottish Government expects all NHS Boards to provide maternity services that are delivered as close to home as practicable, and to offer a full range of birth place options within their region.”