Southern Trust explains decision to divert maternity services from Daisy Hill at weekend

It follows concerns aired by a local MLA after mothers and babies were diverted away from Daisy Hill to Craigavon Area Hospital last weekend due to staff shortages.

Justin McNulty said that this has “raised a red flag” after the Department of Health said there were ‘no unappointed substantive vacancies’ within the Trust.

However, while the Trust have agreed that there was a staff shortage at the weekend, this was down to illness.

The Newry & Armagh MLA says that he has faced sharp criticism from the Trust and political opponents for his staunch defence of services at Daisy Hill and his “no compromise” approach to the hospital.

Speaking in relation to the diversion of Daisy Hill Maternity patients to Craigavon, the SDLP representative said: “The Trust have said that the decision to divert mothers and babies away from Daisy Hill Hospital was due to staff shortages at Daisy Hill’s maternity unit.

“This has raised a red flag for me, because on 14th May this year, in response to questioning on midwifery staffing, the Department of Health stated that there were ‘no unappointed substantive vacancies’ within the Trust, and in fact there was a waiting list of appointees for future vacancies.

“I cannot for the life of me figure out how there are people queuing up to work but the workplace is put on divert due to a lack of staff. This is made even more extraordinary by the fact that a recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that the Trust have access to 256 Bank Midwives.

“I have challenged the Health Minister on this directly, and I am having an urgent meeting with Southern Trust Senior Management this week.

“I wholeheartedly understand the pressures on the health service at present, but I will not accept second best for the people I represent. Nor am I prepared to accept stop/go maternity services at Daisy Hill Hospital.

“The people of Newry City, South Armagh, and South Down, as well as the incredibly midwifery team need reassurance and confirmation from the Health Minister and the Executive that the full suite of maternity services at Daisy Hill is secure for the long term, on-site, and on a 24/7 basis. Nothing less will do.”

We asked the Southern Trust for a comment. A spokesperson said that they “appreciate that the divert on maternity services at Daisy Hill Hospital at the weekend has raised some concerns”.

They explained: “The Southern Trust provides an area wide maternity service, across the community and from our two hospital sites - Daisy Hill Hospital and Craigavon Area Hospital.

“Like many other specialties, in order to make the best use of our resources and maintain a safe service, the maternity team will initiate diverts between each hospital, during times of high demand or to manage workforce challenges.

“There are no unappointed substantive midwifery vacancies within the Trust.

“However, due to ongoing issues with staff sickness absence, temporary diverts have been in place from Craigavon to Daisy Hill and from Daisy Hill to Craigavon, on a number of occasions since July.

“Most recently, due to difficulties in safely filling midwifery rotas, there was a divert in place from Daisy Hill to Craigavon Hospital for unplanned maternity admissions last weekend from Friday night (20th September) until Monday morning (23rd September).

“We have a highly skilled and compassionate maternity team and acknowledge their consistent commitment to mothers and babies in sometimes difficult circumstances.

“We are absolutely committed to ensuring the provision of safe, high quality maternity services across the Southern Trust, continually reviewing and taking account of national and regional policy guidelines.

“We are very mindful of the continuing workforce challenges across health and social care and Southern Trust is not immune from these.

“We appreciate the ongoing support of families and the public as we work through these challenges.”