Shropshire Star

Temporary relocation of services at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital's maternity unit

Community and outpatient services at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital's maternity unit have been temporarily relocated while work continues to repair the damaged roof.

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The maternity unit at Shrewsbury

Heavy snowfall last month caused part of the roof to give way – meaning the unit had to close its doors to women due to give birth.

They were transferred to the maternity department at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and the unit has remained closed for birthing and inpatient care.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) has now announced that community and outpatient services have been moved to an adjacent ward within the Copthorne Building at the RSH for the comfort of women using the services.

The midwife-led unit remains open to outpatient services including day attendees, hearing screening and the registrar.

However, noise from the repair work has led to the decision to relocate services to the antenatal clinic.

Anthea Gregory-Page, deputy head of midwifery at SaTH, which runs the midwife-led unit, said: “For the comfort of women using our services, we have decided to temporarily relocate community and outpatient services at Shrewsbury midwife-led unit for the duration of the repair work.

“Temporary signs have been put up inside the building to direct people to the new location.

“We would like to thank women using our service for their understanding during this time.”

The midwife-led units in Ludlow, Oswestry and Bridgnorth reopened on January 1 after a six-month closure.

The maternity unit in Oswestry temporarily closed overnight on Sunday due to "short-term staff sickness".

The repair work at Shrewsbury – to the central portion of the roof – is scheduled to take a number of weeks, although hospital bosses are hopeful the unit will reopen by the end of the month.