Maternity services are not being removed, Trust tells Sinn Féin reps

It follows a meeting between Newry & Armagh MLA Liz Kimmins and her colleague Conor Murphy this morning.

Deep concern has been raised in recent days regarding the capacity of maternity services across the Trust area, and in particular at Daisy Hill.

Last week SDLP Assembly Member Justin McNulty claimed staff at Daisy Hill’s maternity unit were told in an emergency meeting with Trust management to prepare for the imminent withdrawal of maternity services at the hospital – something which the Trust denied.

For the Trust’s part, they said that work was “ongoing to assess how best we can stabilise and safely sustain maternity and gynaecology services across the Trust area”, adding that like many other specialties throughout health and social care, obstetrics and gynaecology services have been facing growing staffing challenges, impacting midwifery and consultant teams.

Following their meeting on Friday morning, Sinn Féin MLA Liz Kimmins said there had been a constructive engagement and that the Trust had stated categorically that Daisy Hill maternity services are not being removed and serious efforts are being made to stabilise services across the Trust area.

Describing the meeting with the Chief Executive and senior management as “constructive”, Ms Kimmins added that she was “encouraged to hear categorically from the Trust that Daisy Hill maternity services are not being removed and serious efforts are being made to stabilise services across the Trust area”.

She continued: “My colleague Conor Murphy MLA and I made it very clear that improved communication and meaningful partnership working with midwives and clinicians must be key moving forward.

“It is very apparent that we need maternity services delivered at both Daisy Hill and Craigavon to serve the needs of mothers and babies across the Southern Trust area, and I will continue to work hard with the Health Minister and his department to ensure services are protected in the long term.”