Harwich: Trust reveals number of woman using maternity unit (EADT)
Health bosses last night revealed patient figures for an Essex maternity unit following claims they were purposely making it look under used in preparation to close it down.
The move comes after county councillor Ivan Henderson said he fears the Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust (CHUFT) is under-playing the number of women using maternity services at Harwich’s Fryatt Hospital ahead of a public consultation this summer. But the trust vehemently refutes the claims.
The row follows the publication of a report by North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (NECCG) last month looking at the reorganisation of maternity services.
The report, submitted by the CCG’s children’s and maternity commissioner Helen Kershaw, puts forward a number of options which recommend either the midwife centre in Harwich’s be closed or becomes a birthing centre on reduced opening hours. There are also proposals to reorganise maternity services in Clacton.
Mr Henderson made his claims after receiving a document from a staff member at Harwich maternity unit, which accuses CHUFT of being “incorrect with their facts and figures” regarding the pregnant population accessing services at Harwich.
The document, seen by the EADT, claims CHUFT has only been publicising figures for pregnant women living in the CO12 postcode area which includes Harwich and not taking into consideration the pregnant population in surrounding communities, such as Ardleigh, Gt Manningtree and Thorpe.
The document reads: “With all these communities included, the pregnant population on the books of Harwich maternity unit is approx 500 women, each having 10 or more postnatal appointments throughout their pregnancy. This figure has been the case for several years.”
Mr Henderson said: “Staff at Harwich can’t speak out for fear of reprisals but I fear managers are making the unit look under-used so they can close it more easily.”
However, when approached, CHUFT said it didn’t recognise these figures. According to CHUFT’s figures, the pregnant population for the Harwich maternity unit is 328 -– made up of 232 women living in the CO12 postcode area, which includes Harwich, and 96 who live in the C011 postcode area, which covers the surrounding area. CHUFT says of 328 women living in C011 and CO12 who had babies in the financial year 2012/13, around a third – 104 babies – were born at The Fryatt Hospital in Harwich. The previous year 118 babies were born at the unit.
A spokesman for CHUFT said: “The suggestion that we have in some way been fiddling the figures is not accurate.
“We believe that some members of the public think that having skilled staff 24/7 at a unit where on average one baby is born about every three days is not the most effective use of limited NHS resources.
“If we did not need to staff the unit round-the-clock, the midwives would be able to care for women in labour when needed and also provide antenatal and postnatal care more locally to where the women live.
“We look forward to all of these issued being discussed fully during the public consultation.”
A spokesman for NECCG said all views would be taken into consideration when the consulation begins.
He said; “We wish to reassure Cllr Henderson and others who have expressed concerns that we are listening to their views. We have already had a conversation with Cllr Henderson around the reasons behind the proposed maternity consultation and we are taking every opportunity to clarify any further concerns he may have directly with him.
“We have agreed to meet with Tendring District Council leaders and with Harwich Town Council before we produce any public consultation proposal, so that we can take their views fully into account.