KEEP MATERNITY SERVICES IN WEST CUMBRIA
This week we will learn whether some complex maternity services will be moved from West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven to Carlisle. If it is at all possible to provide these services safely in West Cumbria, the answer must be no, and for a whole host of reasons.
There has rightly been very strong opposition to the idea of moving these services with thousands of people signing the “Don’t move our mums” petition. Most people I know assume that it is unlikely that anything so damaging could possibly be allowed to happen, especially in the face of overwhelming public support for keeping maternity services local. A more cynical suggestion has been that this is a straw man put up so that we would be less horrified if something else moves instead. Unfortunately the pressures on the local NHS mean that, although moving services to Carlisle would have serious consequences, rejection of the idea is not as much of a foregone conclusion as we would all like to think.
Providing maternity services, like most other hospital services, requires the establishment of a wide range of specialist staff including training grades, for example all doctors below the level of consultant. The Royal Colleges who supervise the training of these staff require them to see a minimum number of medical procedures of various categories if the training is to be recognised. For example, a junior obstetrician needs to see a certain number of forceps deliveries, so many breech presentations, etc. Meeting these training requirements, without having posts which fail to comply with modern health and safety requirements on issues like hours worked, and then recruiting and retaining enough people to fill all the necessary posts, can be a huge headache for the health authorities. This especially applies in areas which are remote, largely rural, or both – like West Cumbria. The fact that the local NHS have asked themselves whether certain services could be provided more safely and effectively at what they would see as a more centralised location does not necessarily prove them to be, as the saying goes, nasty evil bastards.
However, it would be a disaster for West Cumbria if any further services were moved to Carlisle, and especially if that included anything as critical as complex maternity. A pregnant woman who suddenly develops complications absolutely does not need a forty to sixty mile trip over single carriageway roads.
And in addition to the purely maternity arguments, we need to maintain a critical mass of services in West Cumbria and show commitment to the future of a District General Hospital in the area if there is to be any chance of keeping one. Removal of any further services from WCH is likely to be perceived as a signal that district general hospital services in West Cumbria do not have a future. If this filters through into morale, recruitment and retention it may make the present models and plans untenable and become a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Keep complex maternity services in West Cumbria – don’t move our mums !
There has rightly been very strong opposition to the idea of moving these services with thousands of people signing the “Don’t move our mums” petition. Most people I know assume that it is unlikely that anything so damaging could possibly be allowed to happen, especially in the face of overwhelming public support for keeping maternity services local. A more cynical suggestion has been that this is a straw man put up so that we would be less horrified if something else moves instead. Unfortunately the pressures on the local NHS mean that, although moving services to Carlisle would have serious consequences, rejection of the idea is not as much of a foregone conclusion as we would all like to think.
Providing maternity services, like most other hospital services, requires the establishment of a wide range of specialist staff including training grades, for example all doctors below the level of consultant. The Royal Colleges who supervise the training of these staff require them to see a minimum number of medical procedures of various categories if the training is to be recognised. For example, a junior obstetrician needs to see a certain number of forceps deliveries, so many breech presentations, etc. Meeting these training requirements, without having posts which fail to comply with modern health and safety requirements on issues like hours worked, and then recruiting and retaining enough people to fill all the necessary posts, can be a huge headache for the health authorities. This especially applies in areas which are remote, largely rural, or both – like West Cumbria. The fact that the local NHS have asked themselves whether certain services could be provided more safely and effectively at what they would see as a more centralised location does not necessarily prove them to be, as the saying goes, nasty evil bastards.
However, it would be a disaster for West Cumbria if any further services were moved to Carlisle, and especially if that included anything as critical as complex maternity. A pregnant woman who suddenly develops complications absolutely does not need a forty to sixty mile trip over single carriageway roads.
And in addition to the purely maternity arguments, we need to maintain a critical mass of services in West Cumbria and show commitment to the future of a District General Hospital in the area if there is to be any chance of keeping one. Removal of any further services from WCH is likely to be perceived as a signal that district general hospital services in West Cumbria do not have a future. If this filters through into morale, recruitment and retention it may make the present models and plans untenable and become a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Keep complex maternity services in West Cumbria – don’t move our mums !
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