Dr Maria Barrell, of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), has expressed her dismay at Health Secretary Alan Johnson's decision to endorse the closure of four maternity units in Greater Manchester. Commenting, Dr Barrell 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.”
"As if this wasn't enough to worry about, expectant mothers will have to travel further in cases of emergencies as their local maternity units will no longer be there."
The RCM also hit out at the decision to remove midwives from the Home Office Shortage Occupation List (HOSOL) for fast track employment, Frances Day-Stirk, a Director at the RCM said:
"This is a short-sighted decision that shows a worrying lack of understanding of the problems facing England's maternity services. It is also a disconcerting that the decision has been influenced by NHS financial problems and re-organisation, and not on the needs of the mothers and babies using maternity services.
"The Government has set a target for maternity services and to meet this we need many thousands more midwives, yet this simply reduces the options we have. England is educating fewer midwives, not enough is being done to bring those who have left the profession back in, and nearly half of midwives will retire over the next decade. Against this the birthrate is rising and births are becoming more complex.
"The real solution to delivering a first-class maternity service is to educate and grow enough of our own. Until then we need overseas midwives who do a valuable and welcome job. We need to keep all the doors open for recruitment, yet the Government is busy slamming them shut.”
A survey conducted by the RCM in May showed that three quarters had seen an increase in the birthrate on their units and that over eighty percent did not have the staffing levels they needed to cope.
