Shropshire Star

Shropshire rural maternity units cuts plan set to be backed

Women would no longer be able to give birth at three of Shropshire’s rural maternity units under plans set to be backed by health bosses next week.

Published
A march through Bridgnorth last year over proposed cuts to the county's rural maternity unit services

Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is being recommended to approve the new policy, which would cut back on the locations where women can give birth.

If agreed, the move will be subject to a public consultation.

The decision will be a blow to campaigners who have called for births to continue at rural units as well as at hospitals in Telford and Shrewsbury.

Oswestry, Ludlow, and Bridgnorth midwife-led units only reopened this week after being closed to births because of staffing issues.

Under the proposals the units would remain for clinic appointments but would not cater for births.

A march through Bridgnorth last year over proposed cuts to the county's rural maternity unit services

Instead women will be able to give birth at the consultant-led unit at Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, at the hospital’s neighbouring midwife led unit at PRH, at a free-standing midwife-led unit at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital or at home.

The new policy states that a community team will be available 24/7 for midwife-led births in the midwife-led units and at home.

A report from Fiona Ellis, programme manager, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin local maternity system, is due to be considered by Telford & Wrekin CCG on Tuesday.

It states: “The current model is not clinically sustainable and the current staffing levels and skill mix are not appropriate for the demand. Improvements to staffing levels and skill mix need to be made as well as addressing issues around staff wellbeing.”

The review of the units was launched in response to concerns from Shrewsbury & Telford Hospitals NHS Trust about staffing levels.

The units at Oswestry, Ludlow, and Bridgnorth were closed for births for the last six months of last year because of shortages of staff.

The latest review uncovered concerns over morale within the staff and a worry that “something will be missed”.

It stated: “Staff morale is low. Whilst in general relationships within teams are good, relationships with colleagues beyond their immediate team are more fractured; and many people feel unsupported by management.

“Women’s support assistants and midwives report that recent changes are compromising the care they are able to offer as there is not enough time during appointments and home visits. Staff are worried that ‘something will be missed’ as they don’t have enough time with women.”

The paper states that the changes are designed to increase the number of midwife led births. It states the proposed model is designed to increase the number of midwife led births by:

  • Over time, improving the health of women during pregnancy

  • Changing pathways in antenatal care so that all women receive care that plans for a midwife led birth, unless this won’t be safe for the woman or her baby, or she chooses consultant led care

  • Enabling women to make a decision about their preferred place of birth later in pregnancy; moving the alongside midwifery led unit closer to the consultant led unit in order for a different level of risk to be safely managed.

The report also acknowledges that the proposal is unlikely to be popular with the public.

It states: “The proposed model of midwifery led care is very different to the current service provision. Some elements of the proposed model may receive public challenge.

“However, the proposed new model will deliver an excellent, sustainable model of integrated care that is widely accessible across the county.”

The plans have previously been criticised by Gill George, who chairs Shropshire Defend Our NHS. She has led protest marches against the downgrading of units.

She said: “They are pretending that they have listened to women.

“That’s simply untrue, because women have literally queued up to tell health bosses that women in rural areas need a safe birth just as much as women in Shrewsbury.

“Since when did a mother’s life become less important, a baby’s life less important, because they live in Shropshire but have the ‘wrong’ post code?

“To pretend it’s a better service when it means taking away the 24/7 local midwife support that used to be there; scrapping inpatient postnatal care; and, disgracefully, ending births in Bridgnorth, Oswestry and Ludlow – is grotesquely dishonest.”