Parents sought for maternity services consultation in county

Interviews are taking place in Oswestry on July 14 with others following in Telford on Monday and more information is available on getting involved by contacting ELC Works on 07879 480005 or emailing Georgina@elcworks.co.uk.

The Oswestry event is taking place at the Cabin Lane Church in eastern Oswestry all day.

It is part of a review looking at how the units in Bridgnorth, Ludlow, Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Telford meet the needs of local families and fulfil national guidelines.

The CCGs have commissioned an independent agency, ELC Works, to carry out face-to-face in-depth discussions to gain valuable information on how the MLUs are currently operating, and people’s experiences of using them.

Dr Jessica Sokolov, GP Member and Clinical Director for Women's and Children’s Services, said: “This latest engagement work is about opening conversations, so we can listen to people with invaluable experience of the MLUs and how they work day-to-day.

“Already, our partners have shared the information on the interview dates and venues with their staff, and our independently commissioned agency is making direct contact with any families who wish to take part.

“We wanted to take these conversations out to the people at the front line of the service, so they have the opportunity to take part in helping to shape future services.

“These are in-depth interviews and whilst this phase of engagement focuses on new parents and mums-to-be, the next phase, an on-line survey, will enable a much wider range of people to feed in their views.

“Whilst we can also interview other interested parties during this phase of engagement, we would ask if we can focus the time on families and staff at this stage, as there will be further opportunity for others to give us their views”

Initially, the in-depth interviews will target women and their families who are currently using local midwife-led services, or have used them in the past two and a half years.