§ 11.40pm
§ Mrs. Margaret Ewing (Moray)It is with pride in my constituents and in humility as their elected representative that I tonight present to the House a petition of 12,888 signatures collected in just a fortnight supporting the call for a specialist maternity unit in Moray. The petition reads as follows:
That the decision of Grampian Health Board taken on 7 April 1988 is against the interests and welfare of our residents and that there are clear medical, social and economic reasons for the establishment of a full obstetric and gynaecological unit in Moray. Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your honourable House will use its influence to persuade the Secretary of State for Scotland to instruct Grampian Health Board to reopen discussions on a specialist obstetric and gynaecological unit in Moray and further to carry out a feasibility study on the provision of such a unit. We further petition that the Secretary of State investigate the possibility of financial provision to enable the unit to be established.To emphasise the importance of this matter, I shall mention briefly a case that occurred in my constituency 377 last weekend. A young mother who went into early labour in Elgin had to undergo a caesarean section by a doctor who had no delivery experience. The flying squad in Aberdeen, about 70 miles distant, said the emergency was too acute for transfer, which would require several hours. As a result, my constituent was delivered of twin girls without the mandatory attendance of an obstetrician or paediatrician.Fortunately, the skills of the doctor in attendance prevented a tragedy from occurring, but it can only be a matter of time before a tragedy does occur, a point emphasised by the surgeon. We in Moray do not want such tragedies to happen and we seek the basic right of access to a specialist unit.
The petition concludes:
And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.We ask the House to give serious consideration to this matter.
§ To lie upon the Table.