'No room at the inn' as crisis shuts four Shropshire maternity units

Oswestry's midwife-led unit was forced to close from 8pm last night until 8am this morning, and Ludlow's unit will be closing for the same 12-hour duration on New Year's Eve into New Year's Day.

The closures follow similar overnight ones at both Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury from Christmas Day into Boxing Day.

Campaigners concerned about the future of the rural midwife-led maternity units today called it a "disgrace" and have taken it as a sign to be further concerned about their long-term prospects.

There are now campaign groups in Ludlow, Bridgnorth and Oswestry calling for guarantees that the units will be funded beyond April 2017.

But health bosses said the situation is simply due to "short-term staffing issues" with no bearing on the units' futures.

Liz Grayston, leader of the Save Oswestry Maternity Unit campaign, said there was "no room at the inn in Shropshire this Christmas".

She said: "The planned 12-hour closure of Oswestry's maternity unit was only announced on Wednesday. The four women and babies in the unit are losing their local postnatal care and if an Oswestry woman goes into labour expecting to give birth locally, where is she meant to go?

"What on earth are the risks? We've heard they had to take midwives away from the other units to staff Telford but surely they have a responsibility to ensure safe services at all our maternity units, and to employ enough midwives in the first place.

"Apparently the midwife-led units in Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Bridgnorth and Ludlow have suddenly become standby staffing agencies for Telford. This is completely unacceptable."

Gill George, of Shropshire Defend Our NHS, said it was another issue to add to a long line of concerns over maternity provision in recent months, after Ludlow and Shrewsbury units were both temporarily closed in October, and a suggestion that Bridgnorth, Ludlow and Oswestry become on-call only during the night to cut costs.

More than 1,000 Ludlow campaigners marched in support of the town's maternity unit at the start of December.

Ms George said: "These are essential services. Midwife-led maternity units are safe, cost-effective and valued by local women. Good postnatal care is an investment in the future of the next generation."

Anthea Gregory-Page, deputy head of midwifery at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said all women from 37 weeks to 42 weeks pregnant who had chosen to give birth at the units had been contacted directly to inform them and offer them a different location to give birth.

If any of them had any complications overnight they would be referred to the delivery suite in Telford through the regular triage system, she said.

She said: "We would like to apologise for any inconvenience these temporary closures may cause."