DON’T MOVE OUR MUMS: HERE WE GO AGAIN
Accordingly to a leaked report, the review group considering the future of maternity services in Cumbria was split about how to proceed, and one of the options they have considered would require about a thousand women each year to travel from West Cumbria to Carlisle to give birth.
One option in the report was to upgrade the maternity units at both Carlisle and the West Cumberland hospital in Whitehaven. The other option was to downgrade the West Cumberland maternity unit to a midwife-led unit and for deliveries requiring support doctors to take place in Carlisle. Apparently the review group was not able to reach agreement on either of these options and is working on a new proposal.
On the face of it, the arguments for retaining and improving doctor-led units on both sites appear overwhelming. Midwife-led maternity units have been successful in some more urban parts of Britain, but such units are usually within fifteen minutes “blue light” ambulance ride of a doctor-led maternity unit so that patients can be transferred quickly if complications develop. The idea of making such an emergency transfer over 40 miles of single-carriageway roads between Whitehaven and Carlisle fills me with deep unease. It would also require ambulance resources to be made available, which could easily cost £475,000 a year – money which would have to be diverted from other health services.
Then there is the question of whether Carlisle can cope with everything which would be moved there – that hospital is not really big enough for its existing workload.
There would be an enormous impact on children’s services. According to the leaked report, paediatricians advised that moving doctor-led births and post-natal care to Carlisle would require more senior medical staff at that site, and this could not be achieved by moving resources from Whitehaven without risking serious problems with the children’s health services at one or both hospitals.
Apart from these vital medical concerns, many residents of West Cumbria will be concerned about the practical issue of getting the expectant mother to hospital safely and quickly when she goes into labour, and of how the father and other family members can visit the new mother and baby there. If you don’t have a car, visiting on Sundays will be rather difficult.
Doubtless these serious concerns are the reason why the review group did not want to downgrade the maternity unit at Whitehaven. However, I am very worried by the fact that they have not gone for the option of enhancing the maternity units in both Carlisle and West Cumbria. If the problem is one of resources, we must campaign for those resources to be made available. If the problem is recruitment and retention of staff, we must support the Health Trusts in finding ways to make working in the NHS here an attractive option.
One option in the report was to upgrade the maternity units at both Carlisle and the West Cumberland hospital in Whitehaven. The other option was to downgrade the West Cumberland maternity unit to a midwife-led unit and for deliveries requiring support doctors to take place in Carlisle. Apparently the review group was not able to reach agreement on either of these options and is working on a new proposal.
On the face of it, the arguments for retaining and improving doctor-led units on both sites appear overwhelming. Midwife-led maternity units have been successful in some more urban parts of Britain, but such units are usually within fifteen minutes “blue light” ambulance ride of a doctor-led maternity unit so that patients can be transferred quickly if complications develop. The idea of making such an emergency transfer over 40 miles of single-carriageway roads between Whitehaven and Carlisle fills me with deep unease. It would also require ambulance resources to be made available, which could easily cost £475,000 a year – money which would have to be diverted from other health services.
Then there is the question of whether Carlisle can cope with everything which would be moved there – that hospital is not really big enough for its existing workload.
There would be an enormous impact on children’s services. According to the leaked report, paediatricians advised that moving doctor-led births and post-natal care to Carlisle would require more senior medical staff at that site, and this could not be achieved by moving resources from Whitehaven without risking serious problems with the children’s health services at one or both hospitals.
Apart from these vital medical concerns, many residents of West Cumbria will be concerned about the practical issue of getting the expectant mother to hospital safely and quickly when she goes into labour, and of how the father and other family members can visit the new mother and baby there. If you don’t have a car, visiting on Sundays will be rather difficult.
Doubtless these serious concerns are the reason why the review group did not want to downgrade the maternity unit at Whitehaven. However, I am very worried by the fact that they have not gone for the option of enhancing the maternity units in both Carlisle and West Cumbria. If the problem is one of resources, we must campaign for those resources to be made available. If the problem is recruitment and retention of staff, we must support the Health Trusts in finding ways to make working in the NHS here an attractive option.
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