THE birth o a bairn shuid aye be the maist blithe an canty o occasions! Safety in childbirth haes cam oan in hap, step an lowps this past hunner year, but aye-an-oan, it still cairries a muckle risk. The raicent article in The National bi Patricia Gibson, MP fir North Ayrshire and Arran, pentit a gey dowie personal story o juist whit can an dis gae wrang. The risks need tae be kept in perspective but there are still faur ower mony needless daiths o babies, an aftimes, mithers. This wis heichlichted in a debate that Patricia Gibson caa’d at Westmeenster Ha’ at the UK Pairliament. In this debate she wis uphauden bi a wheen o Scottish MP’s, MP’s frae ither airts, an bi a positeeve repone bi the UK Government. In the UK it’s ettled that 6,500 babies a year dee; 4,000 still births an 2,500 a wee syne eftir birth. Compare this wi road traffic daiths at around 1,700 a year. As Patricia pits it, this is sib tae 16 jumbo jets crashin evri year! It is unnerstaunably verra deeficult fir thaim personally affected tae talk anent this subject, let alane challenge the authorities aboot it.

Mony o these daiths seem tae be raisonably preventable gin hospitals complied wi established staundarts in maternity units. The raicent inquiry intil the Morecambe Bay maternity unit fand systemic problems. Shockingly, NHS Scotland internal reports kythes the Morecambe failins tae be repeated verra raicently in Scottish hospitals. As the MP noted, these daiths arenae subject tae independent investigations. The rest o the UK hus independent healthcare regulators, an are e’en juist nou settin up an addeetional investigation branch tae investigate daiths in healthcare. We hae neither! Oor healthcare regulator wis duin awa wi in 2010. In spite o fowr years o pressin, the Scottish Government refuses tae regulate healthcare. In her repone tae Patricia Gibson, the Cabinet Secretary fir Health, Shona Robison, ettled her sympathy but still an oan refuses tae own the problems we hae in wir Scottish maternity units. She refuises tae bring in independent investigation o daiths in healthcare, or the settin up o a regulator. It shuid be ayont raison – that avoidable daiths can tak place an the body involved then investigates itsel (if at aa!) an that there is nae regulator tae mak siccar that sic incidents are preventit at the ootset as the law requires. The current oancome here is that public safety is stuid oan its heid!

Whit the cabinet secretary is refuisin tae dae is tae complouter wi her ain legal responsibeelities oan healthcare. The prevention o hairm til patients, an the regulation o safety are baith required bi UK-wide law, an backt bi the European Convention oan Human Richts. The meenister an the Scottish Government staund in defiance o the legislation oan public safety an human richts law.

As tae the lessons o Morecambe Bay ye wid ettle that we haud an ace in the pack; we hae an ackwal memmer o its inquiry team as oor Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Catherine Calderwood. But naw! She wullnae – an Scotland cannae – implement the recommendations that wid gang a lang wey tae impruivin staundarts tae mak siccar that mothers an wee bairns are safe. We still dinnae hae the cannae-be-duin-athoot regulator that this inquiry emphasised wis essential tae sort aa this. There is nae recognition or kennin o the problems an nae implementation o the UK-wide solutions. There is nae intent o wir government tae mak siccar that Morecambe Bay is implemented. Ye wid shairly expeck that a CMO (in accord wi their ain professional staundarts) wid mak siccar that the current UK staundarts o safety in maternity units are in place, but NAW! The government meenisters say that they “expect” the NHS tae comply wi the law oan patient safety!? But the Government refuises tae implement the law. Can ye’se think o ony ither whaurs where that doitit norrie wid be acceptable!? An establishment culture o complacency hauds sway! There is still no the unnerstaunin amang these dangerous dafties that these relate tae the maist serious criminal law offences in the modren history o safety law. When the costs o the intentional failure oan criminal maitters are mony avoidable daiths then it seems heich time tae me fir the Crown tae tak desairved an fittin exemplary action “pour encourager les autres” as thon wyce auld Frenchman Voltaire said! There is nae sign o the law oan patient safety bein implemented in Scotland itherwise. Oan the main issue unner Human Richts legislation, the “right to life”, there is byordnar seelence. The Human Richts Act gets aamaist trivialised, yet its “prime directive” is the wan we wid aa recognise as its maist important! It requires public bodies tae protect the richt tae life; an whaur is the main threit tae life? Ye’ve guessed! In the healthcare an social care sector! Yet the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) an its strategy 2016-2020 ignores it! In true Orwellian Animal Farm style the main requirement o the global conventions haes bin waasht aff the wa! It hus vanisht! There is muckle wark tae be duin tae prevent the mony avoidable daiths in this sector, an yet the main body fir human richts in Scotland hus erased it. Human Richts begin wi birth, an in oor maternity units regrettably faur ower mony are failed at that first opportunity tae protect life.

Whit we hae richt nou is a dounricht failure tae protect mithers an wee bits o bairns tae the staundart the law requires, The law is aboot the prevention o hairm, whereas the government thinks it’s aboot ‘less hairm’ !? Thair is an undeemous difference. Healthcare is devolved an sae the Scottish government haes the responsibility tae set the policy o compliance wi the law, tae create the organisation tae deliver it; an that includes bringin back oor independent regulator o healthcare! It alsae provides the stents tae resource aa this an hus the responsibility tae manage it tae mak siccar (bi regulation) the quality an safety o oor healthcare. This isnae heppenin! There are ringin cries fir inquiries intil patient safety frae bereaved faithers, mithers an faimilies; we cuid dae waur nor stairt wi maternity units.