Midwives have condemned the decision to cut maternity and children's care from 12 to eight hospitals in Greater Manchester and challenged health chiefs to reveal exact bed numbers - reports the Manchester Evening News.
Senior figures in the Royal College of Midwives are "dismayed' by the plans, which will mean babies will only continue to be born in hospitals in Trafford, Salford, Bury and Rochdale after 2011 if health chiefs decide to set up stand alone midwife-led units.
The RCM claim health chiefs `got their sums wrong.' Politicians in Bury, Trafford and Salford have also reacted angrily to the cuts.
But health chiefs defended the plans, saying they would create more beds and improve safety. There were no exact bed numbers available.
Dr Maria Barrell, director of the Royal College of Midwives, said she was speaking out against the plan to protect women's safety.
She said: "I am very concerned that the reduced capacity of Greater Manchester's maternity units will not be able to cope with the demand of an increasing birth rate.
"Midwives are already struggling to provide the quality of care that patients expect and deserve. The government says that extra investment will compensate for the closures, but it seems to me they're got their sums wrong."
Leila Williams, director of the Children, Young People and Families Network, the organisation behind the maternity review, said: "There will be more beds after these plans are brought in. The whole point of Making It Better was to improve the safety for women and children's services across the region."
Health bosses in Bury, Salford and Trafford are now considering the option of midwife-led units.
Edna Robinson, the chief executive of Trafford Healthcare, said: "We are obviously still disappointed that our services will alter. However we do still understand and support the principles of the changes.
"We are very excited by the prospect of establishing a Birth Centre at Trafford General."
Margaret Morris, Chairman of Salford Royal, said: "We are bitterly disappointed with this news.
"We have a track record in delivering high quality care through our maternity and neonatal services."
Coun Yvonne Creswell deputy leader of Bury Council said: "The decision to downgrade the maternity unit is devastating for all those people who fought so hard to keep it open.
"It will deny thousands of Bury resident's access to local maternity services and is nothing short of betrayal."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment