Four maternity units to be shut for a service led by midwives

Plans to close "vital" hospital services in Greater Manchester that have been newly approved by the Health Secretary have been slammed by a local MP as likely to "cost lives" - reports The Times.

A review of NHS services ended yesterday with Alan Johnson’s endorsement of an independent panel’s recommendation to close maternity units at Fairfield in Bury, Rochdale Infirmary, Trafford and Salford Hope.

Salford will also lose its neonatal intensive-care unit.

The Independent Reconfiguration Panel has also backed plans to down-grade Rochdale’s A&E unit and end emergency surgery at Fairfield Hospital.

The changes are expected to happen within five years and are likely to mean more home births and deliveries in units staffed by midwives.

Paul Rowen, the Liberal Democrat MP for Rochdale, accused Mr Johnson yesterday of “wielding the axe” in Greater Manchester to cut costs.

Tens of thousands of people had signed a petition against the closure of the hospital’s maternity unit, he said. “I am furious that we have been ignored.”

The panel said that local NHS trusts should 'consider' creating stand-alone midwife-led units at Bury, Salford and Trafford. But the Royal College of Midwives said that midwifery staff might not cope with the work demands.

Ministers defended the changes. Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary and MP for Salford, perversely said that she was “very pleased” that her constituency was in line to have a stand-alone midwife-led unit, preferring to cling to that dim prospect while ignoring the fact that the unit at Salford Hope hospital will be shut down.

Back in December Ms Blears joined picket lines to protest over proposals to close that maternity unit at Hope Hospital, despite supporting the national policy on maternity changes. Yet now the axe has fallen, she appears to be welcoming the closure as good news.

“As a local MP I have made representations at every stage to ensure that babies can still be born in Salford, and this is still the case.” she said.

Certainly babies will "still be born", Ms Blears. The question is, what kind of care will they get as a result of these cutbacks?

Manchester: Midwives 'dismayed' at fewer units

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."