'Pausing births at Melton baby unit looks like closure by the back door'

The news has sent shockwaves through the town after it appeared that St Mary’s Birth Centre would be operating for up to another decade before the local health authority implements its plan to consolidate all maternity services at hospitals in Leicester.

Melton & Syston MP, Edward Argar, decribed the pausing of services, which begins on July 7, as ‘disappointing’ and he has demanded a face-to-face meeting with the chief executive at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust to find out more and ensure the baby unit is able to reopen in six months.

The trust say that they have severe staffing shortages at the birth centre and fewer women are giving birth there, causing them to relocate families to city hospitals with 21 people having booked or expressed an interest in using the Melton service in the next few weeks.

Members of Save St Mary’s Birth Centre fought successfully in the past to save the baby unit from closure but they were unable to prevent the proposals being approved to eventually close the site for births as part of a multi-million-pound transformation of hospital services in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Reacting to the new announcement of services being paused, the group posted on their Facebook page: “We are bitterly disappointed by the decision.

“We were repeatedly reassured during the consultation that changes in maternity care regarding St Mary’s constitute a ‘relocation’ of the standalone midwife-led birthing centre to a more central position in the Trust, rather than a ‘closure’.

"To this end, we were told that St Mary’s would not be closing its doors until the new centre was ready.

"This decision signifies a loss for all parents-to-be throughout Leicestershire and Rutland who will now have a reduced set of options for giving birth. "

Their post adds: "We sincerely hope this is a temporary measure and normal services can be resumed as soon as possible, whilst we wait for the reconfiguration to take place in Leicester.

"Currently, it rather looks like closure by the back door. We hope to be proven wrong.”

Mr Argar MP told the Melton Times: "While it is vital that St Mary’s Birth Centre has the safe levels of staffing it needs, and I understand the reasons UHL have given, it is also vital they work hard to ensure this closure is genuinely only temporary.

"This is a much valued local service, and UHL Trust should be working to increase the amount of services provided locally in Melton, for example at Melton Hospital, rather than local people having to travel to Leicester.

"As Melton’s local MP I have already spoken to Leicester Hospitals’ chief executive expressing my concerns at this decision, and calling on the Trust to set out a clear plan to restore staffing levels, and in the coming years to bring more services from Leicester to Melton Mowbray.

“I’m grateful to him that he has agreed to meet with me urgently, and I look forward to raising my concerns on behalf of local residents with him face to face in the coming days.”