The unit is run from Caithness General Hospital

The move at Caithness Maternity Unit in Wick plunges the future of the facility into further disarray.

Highland health chiefs are considering downgrading the unit from consultant-led to midwife-led.

On Wednesday they said they had no option but to terminate the contracts of the Polish obstetricians following concerns from mothers-to-be and staff.

After investigations were carried out at the Caithness General Hospital facility, health bosses said it had become clear that the locum consultants were not delivering the required standard of care.

I have very real concerns about the standards of clinical practice of both of these locum doctors Alison Graham medical director

A locum arrangement has been put in place and the delivery of babies will continue at the hospital for the time being.

NHS Highland medical director Dr Alison Graham, said she was "very sorry indeed" for the worry the issue had caused.

She said: "I have taken this action because I have very real concerns about the standards of clinical practice of both of these locum doctors.

"Despite having good references and clearly acceptable CVs there have been aspects of their clinical care that have raised concerns over their ability to competently practice in an unsupervised manner in the hospital at a level we expect."

Recruitment problem

Following a review of the patients seen by the pair, Dr Graham said she was "confident" that most of them had "absolutely nothing to worry about".

However, she added: "There are, though, a small number of women who we have offered an appointment to, so that they can been seen in the hospital by another consultant to review their treatment with them and to offer them reassurance."

The health authority has been under fire from campaigners in the area who say not enough is being done to staff the unit properly because of plans to phase out the consultant-led service.

A public consultation exercise is now under way into the future of the maternity unit.

Proposals to downgrade it followed a report by Professor Andrew Calder.