Shropshire's rural unit births could remain suspended until final plan agreed
Births could remain suspended at Shropshire's rural midwife-led units until a long-term plan for the county's maternity services is put in place.
The proposal has been made by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) which has launched a six-week public engagement exercise today to find out the impact this would have on women and their families.
But considering the long-term plans for maternity services in the county, there is a chance that births may never return to Bridgnorth, Oswestry and Ludlow midwife-led units (MLUs).
Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups' long-term proposals involve ending births at the rural MLUs.
A public consultation over the plans is expected to take at least three months to begin.
SaTH says that services at the rural MLUs have been temporarily suspended on safety grounds to address the ongoing operational pressures within the service.
Its proposal is for the temporary suspensions to continue until a new long-term sustainable model of care can be implemented by Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin CCGs.
The trust announced last month that inpatient services at the rural MLUs would remain temporarily suspended for the foreseeable future.
All three units remain open between 8am and 8pm for antenatal and postnatal services.
SaTH's engagement period will run until August 13.
People can give their views through a questionnaire or discussion groups.
The feedback will be analysed by the trust’s community engagement team and presented to the trust board, alongside any associated recommendations regarding future temporary suspensions, in a meeting on September 27.
Health bosses say more than 98 per cent of women are giving birth away from the rural MLUs and the trust has to deploy its midwives where women are choosing, or are being assessed as needing, to be.
SaTH's engagement plan states: "We expect these operational pressures will continue going forward.
"We are therefore proposing to extend the period services are temporarily suspended in our rural MLUs until a new long term sustainable model of care can be implemented by our clinical commissioning groups.
"The purpose of this engagement is to understand the impact of extending the temporary suspensions in our rural MLUs and how this might be mitigated to best meet the needs of women using our services at this time."
Simon Wright, chief executive of SaTH, said in order for the rural MLUs to reopen to births the trust would have to see more women choosing to have their babies there.
The questionnaire is available at surveymonkey.co.uk/r/1804SaTHMS2 or people can request a hard copy by calling 01743 261000, extension 3840.
