Closure of Shropshire maternity units ‘beggars belief’, say campaigners
A Shropshire campaign group has criticised a decision to close three rural maternity units for up to six months.
Gill George, Of Shropshire Defend Our NHS, has rejected the trust's claim that the decision has been taken to ensure safe staffing of its flagship consultant led maternity unit at Princess Royal Hospital Telford.
She said it is instead evidence of more cuts to NHS services, and goes against other areas of the country where work is being done to give women more options for giving birth.
A protest march has also been organised to take place in Oswestry on Sunday, July 9.
Mrs George said: "They say that 85 per cent of women are using the consultant-led unit and that’s why they have to close the three rural maternity units. We think they can’t possibly have read the 2016 national recommendations in 'Better Births'. Everywhere else in the country, work’s going on to give women more choice – to invest in accessible midwife-led care for women with low-risk pregnancies, so they can give birth close to home.
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"It beggars belief that SATH is closing midwife-led units to move more and more resources to the consultant-led unit.
"The reality is that these are cost-driven cuts.
"This is the latest and most brutal attempt we’ve seen so far. We keep beating them back, but they’re doing everything they can to avoid listening to mothers in our rural communities."
SATH has said that a combination of short and long-term sickness, and "a significant fall in the number of midwives prepared to work overtime or temporary bank shifts to cover shifts at times of sickness" has made it difficult to fully staff its maternity sites.
All three units have seen temporary closures at short notice in recent months dues to staffing issues.
Deirdre Fowler, director of nursing, midwifery and quality at SATH, said that the demands on the consultant led unit in Telford have meant more staff are needed at the hospital.
She said: “An increasing number of women are choosing to give birth at our consultant-led unit in Telford, rather than at our MLUs. In 2008/2009 MLU births, including home births, accounted for 26 per cent of our activity but in 2016/17 this figure has fallen to 13.1 per cent, with just 3.4 per cent of this activity taking place at Ludlow (0.7 per cent), Oswestry (1.1 per cent) and Bridgnorth (1.6 per cent) MLUs.
“This means we have seen a high level of demand on our consultant-led unit (85 per cent of local women are giving birth here). At the same time we have faced a combination of short-term and long-term sickness, as well as a significant fall in the number of midwives prepared to work overtime or temporary bank shifts to cover shifts at times of sickness. This has meant that at times we have had to temporarily suspend services at our MLUs due to staffing shortages."
