Health bosses respond to mother's complaints about lack of children’s healthcare services in Ludlow
Health bosses have said there are many new services and initiatives for children in Ludlow after a councillor argued that families have to travel miles to access healthcare.
“Proud mum” Councillor Stacey Harris said “it shouldn’t be a battle” to get healthcare and has joined forces with the Ludlow Health Campaign to demand better services. She said that since having children, fewer services have become available in the town.
Parents, she said, are forced to travel to Telford or Shrewsbury for children’s hearing tests or development appointments. She said that being a parent in the town “is a lot harder than it used to be”.
“I’m lucky, I suppose, at least I can drive,” said Councillor Harris.
“That means it’s not the end of the world when an essential appointment for my child is an hour’s drive away.
“But what about all the parents in Ludlow and south Shropshire who don’t have access to a car? The barriers to them getting the right care for their child are huge.”
Councillor Harris, who represents the Rockspring ward, says parents should not have to give up extra time to travel to an appointment, which might only last a few minutes.
“Isn’t it time for health bosses to make the slogans about ‘care closer to home’ real?
“Quite a lot of us live here in Ludlow, guys! It’s time to bring the care to us sometimes.”
Councillor Harris believes the issues with children’s healthcare in the town start from pregnancy, with Ludlow mothers forced to travel to Telford to give birth.
“We used to have a midwife-led birthing unit here in Ludlow,” she said.
“It closed on and off right through 2017 and was – officially on an interim basis, in practice permanently – [shut] in June 2018.
“Telford’s a long way from Ludlow. Campaigners have asked before how many babies are born at the side of the road before their mums ever make it to Telford. [I’ve] not had a straight answer to that one. Maybe we’ll try again.”
The group is currently creating survey for parents who wish to share their views on local children’s health services.
A spokesperson for the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System said representatives had met with local councillors earlier this year and heard concerns around children’s health services, with health and care providers working together to deliver a “number of new services and initiatives” in the area.
“This includes the development of the Ludlow Community and Family Hub,” the spokesperson said.
“The hub offers a wealth of family support, including community health clinics, health visitor drop-in clinics and an early help team, providing help and advice with infant feeding and breastfeeding, child development, emotional health and wellbeing, parenting, behaviour and sleep, and special educational needs and disability.
“Outside of the hub, there are a range of services commissioned by NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire Council, delivered by providers across health, education, social care and the voluntary sector, from therapies to mental health, such as the Early Language Support for Every Child project, Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools and mental health support teams working across and within Shropshire schools.
“Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust continues to provide services in people’s homes, within schools and through clinics. These include health visiting, community and school nursing, a paediatric psychology service, a children’s diabetic service clinic, a school aged vaccination service and therapies services including speech & language, physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
“Antenatal and postnatal care is provided by the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) for women and their families at the midwife-led units in Telford, Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, Ludlow, Oswestry and Whitchurch, with intrapartum care provided at the consultant-led delivery suite and the alongside midwife-led unit located at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford. The option of home birth is also available.
“We recognise that families are currently having to travel to Telford for the specialist children’s audiology service provided by SaTH and we would like to thank our patients for their support. The service is expected to return to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital once construction work associated with the Hospitals Transformation Programme is complete.
“We look forward to receiving the results of the Ludlow Health Campaign survey to help inform future conversations with the community and further develop local services.”
