Daisy Hill maternity services to move to Craigavon amid staff — SkimNews
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- Southern Health Trust plans to temporarily consolidate inpatient maternity services from Daisy Hill Hospital to Craigavon Area Hospital from 23 November, citing inability to recruit enough consultant obstetricians to safely staff both sites.
- Natasha Daryaie was rushed 40 miles from Newry to the Ulster Hospital during premature labor after Daisy Hill could not provide specialist care and Craigavon had no available bed, raising concerns about access in emergencies.
- Steve Spoerry, chief executive of the Southern Health Trust, told Stormont's Health Committee that patient safety is the priority and a transfer of services to Craigavon is 'highly probable' due to insufficient obstetrician coverage.
- Dale Spence of the Royal College of Midwives in Northern Ireland said midwives are overburdened and warned that relying on their goodwill to sustain services leaves the system operating under severe pressure.
- Mark and Naomi Annett fear for maternal safety if births move to Craigavon, noting their previous birth occurred minutes after water broke—making timely arrival from their home near Kilkeel unlikely over the longer distance.
- Midwifery staffing at Daisy Hill and Craigavon has declined since 2019, with current vacancies equivalent to 0.61 full-time midwife posts at Daisy Hill and 11.69 at Craigavon, though 16 new midwives are set to join between late 2026 and early 2027.
Why it matters: Mothers in rural areas like Newry face heightened risks if emergency maternity care is centralized at Craigavon, where capacity is already strained and travel times can be over an hour—putting lives at risk when minutes matter, despite assurances of safer staffing levels.
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