NHS Alliance: Smaller Maternity Units May Close — SkimNews
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- NHS Alliance said England's maternity services are "not fit for purpose" with safety at risk, and warned smaller units delivering 1,500 to 2,000 babies a year may need to close, particularly those in rural and coastal areas.
- NHS Alliance cited inadequate operating theatres and beds in outdated buildings, a rise in C-sections, and chronic staffing shortages for 24-hour midwife and obstetrician cover as driving the case for consolidation.
- Matthew Hopkins, director of the NHS Alliance's acute and ambulance network, said politicians "must have the courage to make the case for patient safety," and called for the gov't taskforce to "grasp the witte" on strategic issues including significantly worse outcomes for Black and Asian women.
- Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust suspended standard birthing services at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple in August, forcing mothers to travel 53 miles to give birth, and says the unit remains suspended pending a "readiness assessment" later in October.
- Campaigners including Catherine Mchomvu, chief executive of the Devon Antenatal Family Centre, warned that closing smaller units would strip women of continuity of care throughout antenatal and post-natal stages.
- Baroness Valerie Amos's June review found women and babies were not being "listened to, heard or believed," with racism and discrimination "embedded throughout the system," reinforcing the case the NHS Alliance is pressing.
- The Department of Health and Social Care said every woman deserves safe maternity care and that the taskforce "will deliver the reforms needed to ensure services meet the needs of women and families now and in the future."
Why it matters: If the taskforce backs closures of smaller units, pregnant women in rural and coastal communities — exemplified by the 53-mile Barnstaple-to-Exeter detour already in place — will lose local birth options and face longer, riskier transfers, with the NHS Alliance itself warning that continuity of care and outcomes for Black and Asian women would worsen unless consolidation is paired with wider reforms.
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