Summary
The NHS home birth service in Gloucestershire is expected to be reintroduced before Christmas but there is frustration no date has yet been set to reopen Cheltenham’s maternity unit. The Aveta birth centre at Cheltenham General Hospital was closed temporarily in 2022 due to staff shortages and a need to ensure safety.
Details
And the home birth service was suspended across the county in November last year after safety concerns were raised by staff, according to health chiefs. They said at the time that safety, the need to train up midwives and a review of their maternity model were the reasons for the suspension.
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust announced in May that good progress had been made but there was still more to do to be able to reopen safely and the home birth service would not resume until the autumn. Now they say they are planning to reopen the service before Christmas and inspectors have recognised they are “certainly on the right path with maternity”.
They said last month that the Cheltenham maternity unit would reopen by the end of the autumn. However, there is frustration among councillors that a date to reopen the birth unit in the spa town has yet to be set.
Deputy chief executive Al Sheward gave an update at the health overview and scrutiny committee yesterday (October 13) and referenced the latest Care Quality Commission report and acknowledge they have “got a lot of work still to do”. The report identified areas they need to make improvements around maternity triage, incident management and aspects of leadership governance.
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But Stroud Maternity Hospital is in a good position, the report said. “At Stroud maternity, the picture was particularly encouraging with the service improving to good across all five domains of the inspectorate assessment,” he said. “They highlighted strong safeguarding arrangements at Stroud, effective governance and consistently positive feedback from women and families who access the service.
“Taken together the report shows we are certainly on the right path with maternity. “It shows we are certainly moving in the right direction and they acknowledge the progress that has been made while recognising there has to be a continued focus on improvements.” Mr Sheward went on to explain the changes that are taking place to offer more choice for women to give birth.
“There’s currently no confirmed reopening date but we plan to introduce home birthing before Christmas,” he said. “But I did just want to set that in the context of the size of the piece of work that has been undertaken. “We have consulted with over 130 midwives and the time that has taken has been considerable.
What You Need to Know
They said last month that the Cheltenham maternity unit would reopen by the end of the autumn. However, there is frustration among councillors that a date to reopen the birth unit in the spa town has yet to be set.
Report source: Gloucestershire Live
