MPs tell health bosses: '24/7 maternity plan MUST work'

It follows a decision by health bosses to start the 12-month countdown - in which to prove the viability of the Whitehaven unit - on April 1.

Last March, following the controversial Success Regime consultation, NHS North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)'s governing body agreed to give the consultant-led unit one year to see if long-standing recruitment issues could be addressed.

In recent day they agreed to start that 12-month countdown, despite one of its members calling for it to be extended to two years.

However members also agreed that if good progress is being made by March 31 next year, they will extend that deadline.

Copeland's Trudy Harrison and Workington's Sue Hayman say that the CCG must now do all it can, within that time, to retain the consultant-led unit, as that is what women want and need.

"What we need is a 24-hour, seven-day a week comprehensive, fully staffed ante and post natal, midwifery and Special Care Baby Unit at West Cumberland Hospital - anything less is totally unacceptable," said Mrs Harrsion, the area's Conservative MP.

"My view has not changed; consultant led maternity must remain and every effort to recruit, retain and reinforce the excellent service that I and other women in west Cumbria have experienced must be made."

Mrs Hayman added: "At the end of the day the local community wants to have option one working, to have consultant-led maternity at the West Cumberland Hospital. We have to make sure we deliver that."

The CCG's governing body was presented with two options, to start the countdown on April 1 or to waiting until new arrangements (dubbed option one) are in place, then begin the 12 months.

Despite some concerns, they decided the trial could start prior to option one - which will see some higher risk births taking place in Carlisle due to changes in neonatal care - being in operation.

Lay member Les Hanley voted against this option, instead asking for a two-year commitment to consultant-led maternity.

Retired consultant Mahesh Dhebar, of the We Need West Cumberland Hospital campaign group, believes he was right.

"I don't think 12 months in enough. We probably need between two to three years from now to really address the recruitment," he said.

"They could have done this without going into a 12-month period, continuing the recruitment drive without binding themselves to a date. They probably felt they had to do that, but now they have tied themselves to a time frame with which I don't agree or like."

MPs are now urging the CCG to continue to work with the community to tackle recruitment, and keep the unit open long term.

Mrs Harrison said good progress has been made, both bringing in overseas staff and training up the staff of the future.

But she added: "I commend the efforts being made but will not accept anything less than a fully operational department.

"In my regular meetings with the CCG and Department of Health ministerial colleagues I make this clear, 24/7 consultant led maternity must remain and I'm confident this will be achieved with the enthusiasm and proactive approach being taken."

Mrs Hayman said: "It's almost 12 months since the Success Regime and the CCG decision. I'm pleased that they've been genuinely trying to work with the community. Those from the local community who are involved say they feel there has been progress.

"These next 12 months are absolutely critical. It's really important that the community and NHS continue to work closely to demonstrate that we can deliver this. One of the critical factors is recruitment so we have to continue to really push hard on that.

"I do get the feeling that we are going in the right direction. We now have to continue to build on that."

The former chairman of Cumbria's health scrutiny committee believes the community should have had more say in the decision about when to start the 12-month maternity countdown.

Neil Hughes was among the councillors who voted to refer the controversial maternity plans to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt last year due to concerns about the safety of women.

Now he is concerned that efforts to work alongside the community - in a process dubbed 'co-production' - are not working properly.

He believes the Working Together steering group, made up of NHS staff and the wider community - should have had the chance to properly consider the 12-month start date before a decision was made.

During the governing body meeting, chief operating officer Peter Rooney asked for assurances that it had been discussed by the co-production group. Medical director David Rogers said it had, but there was some debate about whether it was simply mentioned at the steering group meeting or discussed in depth.

Mr Hughes, a Liberal Democrat county councillor, said the governing body should have considered formal feedback from the group before agreeing to start the 12 months.

He said: "Peter Rooney reminded them that the input of the co-production group was deemed to be essential.

"That was one of the conditions. It was a commitment that the CCG made in order that this could work.

"Yet these two proposals have not been properly aired at the co-production meetings. To me that's a betrayal of the process."

However fellow Liberal Democrat Rebecca Hanson, who attended the Working Together group meetings, said she felt that the co-production process was working really well.

Despite initial concerns about the 12 month deadline starting ahead of new maternity arrangements being in place, she said she now supported the CCG decision for two reasons.

"Firstly, the 12 month trial is creating recruitment problems. The sooner we get it done, the sooner this particular problem will disappear.

"Secondly, we have an expert panel in place who will risk assess the problems of women travelling in labour. If we start the trial they can get on with their work. If we don’t start the trial, the time frame for their work will slip and members of this group may need to move on to other work commitments."