Maternity unit to close due to staff shortages

A hospital is planning to temporarily close its maternity unit because of serious staffing shortages.

North Devon District Hospital (NDDH) in Barnstaple, Devon, said it faced not having enough consultant and medical cover to safely continue delivering babies there after 11 August.

The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said it would continue to "explore every available opportunity" to avoid suspending the service.

Chief medical officer Vanessa Purday said she could not give a definite date on when the maternity unit would reopen.

She said: "What we can say to our women and families, who are clearly anxious and worried by this decision, we are working hard to reopen as quickly as we can.

"We are working very hard to put plans in place for all women who we know are expected to deliver in the coming weeks.

"We are reaching out to each woman individually to make sure we have a personised plan in place.

"We understand their concerns, we understand their geography, their location, what childcare issues they have, transport risks, and we'll be putting some wraparound care to make sure we support each woman."

In an interview with the BBC, she said she was "confident" ambulance services could be "safely managed" following concerns paramedics could be diverted as a result of the closure.

She denied financial reasons were behind the closure and blamed "critical staffing shortages".

"Money is not the issue here," she said.

Rebecca Winstone-Twiner, 27, who is 26 weeks pregnant with her first child, said she was worried about the prospect of having to travel to Exeter to give birth.

She said: "It's the unknown of what's going to happen. Is everything going to go alright? Because I knew at the time we had our lovely services up here, I wasn't too concerned really.

"It is the additional journey of having to go up to Exeter, which is an extra hour for me."

Ms Winstone-Twiner, who is due to give birth on 31 October, said she was fortunate to have a strong support network and access to transport, but worried about other expectant mothers.

She said: "I feel very, very sorry for people that don't have that support network, don't have that travel opportunity or don't drive at all."

She also raised concerns about women with high-risk pregnancies, adding that congestion on North Devon's roads during the busy summer holiday period could make journeys even more stressful.

Jenny Henderson, from Parracombe, near Combe Martin, said she was "shocked" to learn about the closure on social media while making plans for the birth of her third child.

The 37-week pregnant mother, whose due date is 18 August, said she had discussed her birth plan with her midwife only days before hearing the news.

She said: "I was just on Facebook and then I saw that's not going to be happening any more unless I have my baby before the 11th."

She said her nearest alternative maternity units were in Exeter or Taunton, Somerset, both about 90 minutes away from her home.

"Being over an hour-and-a-half away, and this being my third, it's likely to come quite quickly," she said.

"I don't particularly want to be giving birth on the side of the road."

Purday said it was an "enormous decision and one we feel the weight of in our community" but the hospital trust was "extremely concerned" about staffing levels at the NDDH.

The trust said it could not guarantee that "women would consistently have access to the level of senior medical support during labour they may require".

Purday said it had relied on locum and agency staff for some time, and that recent staff shortages and absences had "tipped the balance into it being unsafe to continue beyond 11 August".

She said maternity teams at North Devon District Hospital and the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital had "worked so hard and held this service together for many months, working extra and longer hours to ensure our families got the care they needed".

But, despite efforts to fill gaps in the rota, the trust has been unable to secure enough medical staff from August.

Hospital leaders stressed the move would be temporary and said work was already under way to reopen the unit as soon as possible through recruitment and training.

Maternity teams have started contacting pregnant women in order of their due dates and clinical priority to discuss birth plans.

Those who were already more than 34 weeks pregnant were being contacted first, staff said.

North Devon Liberal Democrat MP Ian Roome said he had been in contact with the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Trust and had written to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the British Medical Association, the NHS Devon Integrated Care Board and government ministers seeking urgent support.

He said: "We must protect local maternity services here in North Devon at all costs.

"This is a recruitment crisis.

"A critical shortage of consultant obstetricians and gynaecologists has forced the trust to this point, and it is hugely worrying for women in labour who may now have to travel to hospitals much further from home."

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