Maternity Commissioner

Jamie Stone Excerpts

Monday 20th April 2026 Westminster Hall

[Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD)]

It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I want to share a cautionary tale with everyone, and I will just set out the geography. I have the biggest constituency in the UK; it stretches from John O’Groats, way down to just north of Inverness—I invite Members to think about that huge area of Scotland.

What I am about to say in no way reflects on the midwives in Caithness and other parts of my constituency. Some years ago the Scottish Government, in their infinite wisdom, decided to downgrade a consultant-led maternity service based in Wick, which is at the top of the UK, near John O’Groats, to a midwife-led service. That meant that mothers would have to travel more than 100 miles—in each direction—to Inverness to give birth. Travelling from Caithness to Inverness on a sunny day is one thing; travelling in winter is a very different proposition. The A9 gets blocked during many winters and people cannot get through. What happens if a pregnant mother in an ambulance on her way to give birth in Inverness cannot get through? They get hold of the emergency helicopter. But what if there is a road traffic accident in another part of the highlands—say in Lochaber, Skye or Morayshire—and the choppers have gone in different directions? I have posed that question to the Scottish Government again and again and said, “You could have a tragedy on your hands.” I have asked for a safety audit again and again, but there has been no safety audit whatever. What about winter? What about when the chopper does not—cannot—fly? What about when the ambulance cannot get through?

Back in 2018, a mother of twins was on her way down in an ambulance and gave birth to the first baby in Golspie, about 50 miles through a 100-mile journey. A second ambulance had to be called and she was driven on to Inverness to give birth to the second child. I ask Members to imagine how traumatic and awful that was for the mother. Both children and the mother survived—thank God. I well remember somebody called Nicola Sturgeon saying at the time, “This is very serious; we will look into it,” but nothing happened.

Today, the statistics speak for themselves: in the most recent period we have looked at, six babies were born in Caithness general hospital in Wick and 166 were born in Raigmore hospital in Inverness. Think about all those return journeys. Think about a mum coming to see her daughter and the little baby. Where do they stay? It is expensive. We had a superb local service, and we do not have it any longer. Fundamentally, I find that simply dreadful.

Eventually, at the tail end of last year, there was a motion in the Scottish Parliament to hold an independent inquiry into maternity services in the north of Scotland. It passed, and the local population said, “Hallelujah! At long last, it’s going to be addressed.” But then what happened? In their infinite wisdom, the Scottish Government said, “Actually, despite the fact that there was a majority decision by the Scottish Parliament, we’re not going to do an independent inquiry; we’ll have a little in-house look at what’s happening here.” That is where we are today. Can Members imagine what message that sends to mums and families in the north of Scotland?

I have gone on and on about this in this place—as I am sure you know, Sir Alec—and yet it is a devolved matter, so we are completely powerless to do anything. I hope that all the sentiments expressed today about a commissioner come to be reality, I hope that the Scottish Government are told to look at it very closely indeed, and I hope that they are shamed—it is as simple as that—into doing something and sorting out a truly shocking situation, and one that is extremely dangerous. It is a miracle that neither a child’s life nor a mother’s life has been lost yet. I am sorry if I do not mince my words, but I feel very strongly about it indeed.