Anger as health chiefs push through hospital maternity cuts

Richmondshire councillors are set to urge health chiefs to rethink their decision on the future of maternity and children’s services at Northallerton’s Friarage Hospital when they debate a motion calling for a rethink.

NHS North Yorkshire and York last month backed measures which would see the hospital no longer provide round-the-clock paediatric services. This would have a knock-on impact on maternity care, forcing hundreds of higher-risk mothers-to-be to give birth in hospitals further afield.

Crucially, officials from the primary care trust (PCT) agreed no change was not an option.

Last night members of Richmondshire District Council said they were bewildered by the decision not to include the one option overwhelmingly supported by local people – to retain the 24/7, consultant-led services – in a forthcoming consultation.

Council leader, Coun John Blackie, said last night: “We want the PCT to reconsider its decision – currently they say they are not prepared to allow the option that secured overwhelming support from local people to be part of the consultation. This reinforces the public perception that downgrading the services at the Friarage was a done deal from the start.”

All but seven of the authority’s 34 councillors have signed the cross-party motion which will be debated on Tuesday and which claims the public’s perception of the decision is that it was a “done deal.”

It also calls for steps to be taken to call in the decision and refer it to the Government.

The plans have triggered huge opposition, leading to a mass demonstration in Northallerton over concerns about journeys for women in labour to hospitals in Darlington, Middlesbrough or Harrogate as well as for children with multiple health problems.

Members of Richmondshire Council will also be asked to sanction further research into how small 24/7, consultant-led maternity and children’s services operate in other parts of the UK – including visits to a number of these hospitals – when it meets.

The hospital has one of the smallest maternity units in the country with about 1,250 births a year, and the primary care trust (PCT) has said there could be no consultation on plans which had no prospect of being implemented.

Directors agreed to press ahead with two options for a paediatric short-stay assessment unit and midwife-led maternity service with full outpatient and community services, or an alternative without the short-stay unit.

Last month’s decision came after the Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) produced a report recommending only mothers facing low-risk births should use the Friarage.

It also recommended that it should only offer short stay paediatric services.

Dr Vicky Pleydell, chief clinical officer at the CCG said it was important to ensure that services were safe and sustainable for the future.

She said the PCT had concluded it was not feasible to keep services as they were because significant investment would be needed to increase staffing levels to address “issues around quality and safety.”

Dr Pleydell said clinicians needed to work in environments where they regularly saw patients with varied problems to develop their skills. While extra investment might prolong the services for a time it would not ultimately solve staffing and recruitment issues.