Date set for maternity services to reopen

A provisional date has been set to reopen a maternity unit which closed temporarily due to staffing shortages, an NHS trust has announced.

Birthing services at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple were due to reopen on Tuesday 29 September, the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said.

Bosses said they had had made "positive progress" to recruit medical staff needed to reopen after it was shut in August. The closure meant pregnant women had to travel 53 miles (85km) away to give birth in Exeter.

The trust said it would make a formal decision on 14 September after a final review to check staffing, skills needed and complying with safety criteria.

The trust said in July it did not have enough consultant and medical cover to deliver babies safely at in Barnstaple after 11 August.

Giving the planned reopening date, chief medical officer Dr Vanessa Purday, said: "We fully recognise the disruption and anxiety caused by the temporary suspension and we are grateful to women and birthing people, their families, colleagues and partners for their patience and support."

She said the move was "an important step forward towards restoring services closer to home and being assured of patient safety and continuity of care" and hoped it provided certainty for colleagues and families using the services.

Women who had been due to give birth in Barnstaple were advised to travel to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, and more than 50 babies have been delivered there since the closure, it is understood.

Purday apologised to affected families who had had to give birth elsewhere.

She told BBC Devon: "It was really, really important that when you come to a hospital you know that you have the required level of specialist input and care should you need it 24/7.

"We could not give you that assurance in North Devon and that's we had to make this temporary change."

She said the trust had secured temporary staff "committed to working with us to medium to long-term" and added bosses would "continue to do all we can to recruit" to permanent staff.

"We've reached out internationally, we've got a very active marketing team," she said.

She added it was important expectant parents did changes to their birthing plans, and the trust would contact them after the "go, no-go" decision on 14 September.

Families had staged protests and said expectant mothers faced more stress because of longer journeys to give birth.

Rebekah Hester, from Ilfracombe, who was classed as high-risk due to having pre-eclampsia, external, told the BBC coming to the realisation having a birth which may be not as planned was "terrifying".

The trust said it had put the safety of mothers and babies as its highest priority and looked at other options.

Carolyn Mills, the Royal Devon's chief nursing officer, said: "We have worked tirelessly alongside our partners, including NHS Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board and NHS England regional colleagues, to explore every possible option to avoid this outcome."

The decision to suspend birthing services at the hospital - which serves north Devon and part of north-east Cornwall - led to the resignation of the trust's medical director Dr Karen Davies who said her "repeated warnings and concerns over the last two years have not been heard and have not been acted upon".

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