Taylor says priority must be to keep consultant-led maternity care at Daisy Hill
Ulster Unionist Newry Mourne and Down Councillor David Taylor has commented on the Southern Health and Social Care Trust statement on medical workforce pressures within inpatient maternity services at Daisy Hill Hospital.
Councillor David Taylor said: “This is deeply concerning news for expectant mothers, staff and the entire community served by Daisy Hill Hospital.
“The clear priority must be to try to retain inpatient maternity services at Daisy Hill.
“I have already raised the seriousness of the situation directly with Health Minister Robbie Butler, and I welcome his intervention to ensure that every reasonable option for securing the necessary medical cover is fully explored.
“This includes a clear expectation not only off the Southern Trust, but on all Trusts in Northern Ireland to work together to try to find a regional resolution.
“The Southern Trust must now provide a full and frank explanation of how the service so quickly reached such a precarious position. The local community deserves full transparency on what action has been taken to date and why previous recruitment efforts have not succeeded.
“I will be seeking an urgent meeting with the Southern Trust to scrutinise its workforce planning, recruitment efforts and proposed contingency arrangements.
“I will also be seeking clear commitments on other services remaining at Daisy Hill, and in the event of births being redirected to Craigavon what conditions and timescale would apply to restoring inpatient maternity care, and how any temporary arrangement would be prevented from becoming permanent by default.
“Daisy Hill is a vital hospital serving a large and geographically dispersed population. I will continue pressing the Trust to ensure that no stone is left unturned in securing the future of its inpatient maternity service.”
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Serious Questions Raised By UNISON Over Threat To Daisy Hill Maternity
UNISON has raised serious concerns following a briefing from Southern HSC Trust to inform us that maternity services at Daisy Hill Hospital could face temporary closure because of an inability to secure sufficient consultant cover.
James Large, UNISON Regional Organiser, said: “We have been informed that extensive recruitment efforts have failed to secure the consultant cover required and that, with further departures expected, the service could become unviable within weeks.
“This comes at a time when Northern Ireland has the highest infant mortality rate in the UK.
“We have also heard Health Ministers speak about misogyny within medicine and the need to place a much greater focus on women’s health. Health inequalities for people in rural communities are also exacerbated by the removal of services like this.
Against that backdrop, the prospect of taking maternity services further away from women in Newry, South Armagh and surrounding rural communities is deeply concerning.
“If workforce sustainability is the problem, then we need to address the recruitment challenges. Every possible option, including support from other Trusts, must be exhausted to secure safe and sustainable services at Daisy Hill.
“HSC employers have obligations to properly consult and negotiate with recognised trade unions when decisions impact our members, their jobs and the services they provide.
He added “that a briefing is not consultation. Our members cannot simply be informed about decisions which fundamentally affect their jobs and the future of the services they deliver. We are extremely disappointed that HSC Trusts increasingly seem to believe it is acceptable to ‘brief’ trade unions on major decisions rather than properly involve us in the process.
Rachel Killen, Joint Branch Secretary of Newry & Mourne branch, said:
“This will cause enormous concern among our members and within the local community. We need transparency about what is happening, meaningful engagement with staff and their trade unions, and a clear plan for maintaining safe maternity services locally.”
Deborah Yapicoz, Trade Union Side Chair, Southern Trust, said:
“Our members have continued to provide maternity care through significant workforce pressures. We need investment, recruitment and a sustainable workforce plan. They need certainty and women and families need reassurance.
“Any temporary closure must not simply become the route to the permanent removal of maternity services from Daisy Hill.”
John Creaney, UNISON representative at Craigavon Area Hospital, said: “Our members and maternity services at Craigavon Area Hospital are already under significant pressure.
“The suggestion that Craigavon could simply absorb more than 1,700 additional births a year raises serious questions about staffing, capacity and patient safety. You cannot resolve workforce pressures at one hospital by transferring that pressure onto another.”
UNISON will work alongside community groups and wider civic society to campaign for safe, sustainable and locally available maternity services for women and babies.
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Southern Trust Seek Medical Staff For The The Inpatient Maternity Unit
In a statement published earlier, the Southern HSC Trust said that Trust is “experiencing significant medical workforce pressures within inpatient maternity services at Daisy Hill Hospital following a number of consultant obstetrician retirements and resignations.
“Despite sustained recruitment efforts across the UK and internationally, the Trust has not yet been able to recruit sufficient consultants to fill these vacancies. This reflects a wider shortage of consultant obstetricians across Northern Ireland and the UK.
The Trust’s intention has been, and remains, to maintain inpatient maternity services at Daisy Hill Hospital.
“Our overriding priority is the safety of women and babies.”
Chief Executive Steve Spoerry said: “The Minister of Health, Robbie Butler, has asked the wider Northern Ireland health and social care system to explore what support may be available to help maintain inpatient maternity services at Daisy Hill Hospital.
“We welcome this intervention and are actively engaging with system partners, while continuing our recruitment efforts.”
“While we work with colleagues across the system to explore every available option, it is responsible and necessary that we also develop a contingency plan. This would include the temporary consolidation of all births and inpatient maternity care at Craigavon Area Hospital, should that become necessary to maintain safe care for women and babies.
“Contingency planning will consider the changes required at both hospitals, including the capacity needed at Craigavon Area Hospital to accommodate additional births and the provision of appropriate obstetric support for the Emergency Department at Daisy Hill Hospital.
‘We will work closely with the Department of Health, the Strategic Planning and Performance Group and the Public Health Agency as these plans are developed.”
Mr Spoerry added: “We are providing this update now because we are committed to communicating openly and transparently with pregnant women, staff and the wider public.”
Women do not need to take any action at this stage. Anyone who is concerned should contact their midwife in the first instance or, alternatively, call the dedicated maternity information line on 028 3756 1325 between 2.00pm and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday.
Dr Beverley Adams, Divisional Medical Director for Maternity and Women’s Services, said: “We greatly appreciate the flexibility, commitment and dedication of our entire maternity team.
“Staff have worked additional hours and made every effort to sustain services at both hospitals.
“However, recent staffing changes have placed the service under significant pressure, and additional support is required if inpatient maternity care is to continue safely across both sites.
“We recognise that this update may cause concern. Our responsibility is to ensure that every woman, wherever she lives, has access to safe and responsive maternity care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
The Trust will continue to keep pregnant women, staff and the public informed as the situation develops and will provide further updates when more information is available.
