A RECRUITMENT drive for obstetricians will begin "as soon as possible" after the Scottish Government approved plans to restore a consultant-led maternity service to Moray.
Up to £6.6 million is being made available to support the return of consultant-led obstetric care to Dr Gray's hospital in Elgin, five years after doctor shortages saw it downgraded to a midwife-led unit.
The Scottish Government said elective caesarean births will re-start in early 2025, with full consultant-led services returning in 2026.
READ MORE: Scotland's changing birth trends - from home deliveries to rising C-sections
The phased restoration of services will start later this year, however, with enhanced complex obstetric antenatal care and day assessment expected to be provided by the district general hospital.
At the same time, separate funding of £5m has been earmarked for the refurbishment of the maternity unit at Raigmore hospital in Inverness.
The plans mean that, from early 2025, expectant mothers in Moray should be offered a choice of where they want to give birth.
While some straightforward births take place in Elgin, the vast majority of pregnant women - particularly first-time mothers - travel to Aberdeen, or Inverness.
The situation has led to some high-profile cases, including a Moray woman who gave birth to her baby boy in a layby on the A96 in May last year with only her husband on hand.
The couple had been en route to Aberdeen - 65 miles from Elgin - when they were forced to pull over, with the woman's husband tying their newborn son's umbilical chord with his shoelaces.
It was the second time in six months that a woman had delivered her baby by the roadside.
Scottish Tory leader, Douglas Ross, an MP for Moray, said funding to restore a consultant-led maternity service was a "step in the right direction".
In 2021, Mr Ross spoke of his own anguish after following his wife Krystle - who was in an ambulance - from Elgin to Aberdeen Maternity Hospital while she was in labour with their son, James, whose heart rate was "dipping".
He described the drive as the "worst I've ever had" and told how a midwife warned that his wife may have to give birth in a lay-by if the labour sped up.
Mr Ross said: "The devil will be in the detail of this announcement and the finer print must give expectant mothers in Moray and tireless campaigners confidence once and for all over the return of consultant-led services at Dr Gray’s.
"Many promises have been made before but have proven not to be worth the paper they are written on.
"The reality still remains that the so-called temporary downgrade of maternity services at Dr Gray’s will have lasted eight years for Moray mums if this plan is realised on time, even now that the misguided Model 4 plans have been scrapped.
"If this implementation is to be successful, then Humza Yousaf needs to recognise that serious issues around recruitment remain.
"That is exacerbated by the rural and remote geography of Moray and the Highlands and the solid platform he has described could fall apart without the required staff in place."
READ MORE: Over 1000 'adverse events' in women and infants' care
The removal of the consultant-led unit at Dr Grays in 2018 was initially described as "temporary", due to difficulties recruiting and retaining specialists, but campaigners have pushed for the decision to be reversed.
In December, NHS Grampian and NHS Highland submitted proposals for an integrated maternity service for the north of Scotland, including a consultant-led obstetric service at Dr Gray's, which have now been approved by the Scottish Government.
Professor Caroline Hiscox, chief executive NHS Grampian, said the approval was "a significant and welcome step, which I know will be warmly welcomed by families, midwives and clinicians across Moray".
She added: “Today’s announcement of £6.6m funding will enable us to start the recruitment process as soon as possible to provide the necessary expertise required at Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin.
"We look forward to working in partnership with NHS Highland on the planned networked model, which will help deliver services across the region.”
Pam Dudek, chief executive at NHS Highland, said it would work to "support women to give birth with a focus on choice and involvement in planning their care with us".
She added: "In order to do so safely, we need to upgrade facilities at Raigmore and significantly increase our workforce, while also considering options for midwife-led care in Inverness-shire allowing choice locally and most importantly develop agreed pathways of care amongst our clinicians.
"This work is underway."
READ MORE: Midwives calling in sick 'because they can't afford travel costs'
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf delivering the plan "will not be without its challenges".
NHS Scotland as a whole has a vacancy rate of 2.6% for consultants in obstetrics and gynaecology, but this rises to 7.7% in NHS Highland and 5.3% in Grampian.
Mr Yousaf said: “NHS Grampian and Highland’s ambitious plan will deliver what local people have asked for – a return to obstetric maternity services at Dr Grays in a safe and sustainable way.
“I thank both health boards and their clinical teams for the collaborative and innovative work that has gone into the development of this plan.
"I am grateful to Professor Linda De Caestecker, who was appointed to provide External Assurance, for her advice and support which has been crucial in getting us to this point.
“Delivering the plan will not be without its challenges, and the collaborative approach NHS Grampian and Highland have in place will provide a solid platform for shared delivery.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here