Trust board meeting hears ‘strong case’ for retention of Daisy Hill maternity services

Mother and babies have had to be diverted away from Daisy Hill to Craigavon Area Hospital on occasions, and the SDLP representative expressed grave concerns regarding this.

He stated: “I think fundamentally, we all have huge admiration and respect for our midwifery teams, not only at Daisy Hill Hospital but also at Craigavon Area Hospital, for their care, for their compassion and for their professionalism.

“40 per cent of births in the Southern Trust are in Daisy Hill Hospital. The birth rate in this area is bucking the trend, it’s higher than in any other area across the North. So it’s a major factor for consideration.

“I am here to say firmly that every effort possible has to be made to secure the full suite of maternity services at Daisy Hill Hospital.

“Concerns were raised after the diverts were put in place, which – it’s notable – the Health Minister was not fully abreast with, or in agreement with the approach adopted.

“There was a huge sense of shock, a huge sense of fear, a huge sense of anger that penetrated right in the communities around Newry, South Armagh and South Down.

“But more fundamentally, there was a visceral sense of sadness that the days of being born and bred in Newry are over.

“Withdrawal of maternity services from Daisy Hill Hospital cannot be a fait accompli, as we experienced with the withdrawal of emergency general surgery from our hospital, where a consultation process was put in place, and the outcome of that consultation was just ignored.

“There are also the realities that senior midwifery clinicians have approached me with their sense of fear about the safety of mothers and babies, if they are turned away at the door of Daisy Hill and diverted to Craigavon, and the risk to life.

“There was a huge public outcry when emergency general surgery was withdrawn from Daisy Hill Hospital, with 10,000 people out on the streets.

“That strength of feeling around any withdrawal of maternity services from Daisy Hill will be far greater.

“I am here to say firmly that every possible effort must be made to secure the full suite of maternity services at our city’s hospital at Daisy Hill.”

Director of Surgery and Clinical Services, Cathrine Reid was anxious to reassure Mr McNulty that a recruitment process is currently underway to maintain that essential service at Daisy Hill Hospital.

She commented: “The purpose of this paper is for assurance and to provide an update on the provision of gynaecology services within the Southern Trust, to develop a safe and sustainable model.

“Like many other specialties, obs (obstetric) and gynae (gynaecology) service, both nationally and regionally, has increasingly challenged workforce issues, both medical and staffing.

“There is a rise in demand and associated pressures across both hospital sites. Therefore, the Trust has established a project structure to support the development of a sustainable model, and meetings have commenced for both the project board and the working groups.

“They developed an immediate action plan, and that has been implemented to stabilise the current service within Daisy Hill and Craigavon.

“We’re currently developing a continuity plan for both sites. It’s had extensive engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, including staff, commissioners and senior management to agree on the next steps.

“In terms of recruitment, we have three vacant consultant posts, two in Daisy Hill and one in Craigavon.

“We currently have two applicants for those posts, and interviews will be held on February 17.

“We’ve had a very successful midwifery recruitment. We’re on the second round. In the first round, 14 new midwives were appointed. 12 of those have taken up posts, and two have declined due to personal reasons.

“We have had a subsequent recruitment and the interviews were in early January. 30 applicants were successful at interview. There are 15 posts which will be populated by those 30 successful candidates, and waiting lists will be created.

“I’m also pleased to say that the sickness level in Daisy Hill has now reduced to 11 per cent.

“We still have some areas of concern and do need to see the process through, in terms of recruitment, in terms of the consultants.

“There is a reduction in the ability to continue some provision of gynae services, due to the medical workforce team focusing on the delivery of the obstetric services, which is an unscheduled care service.

“We do have increased waiting times for gynae patients due to a reduction in outpatient gynae clinics.”