Towns lose maternity units as births centralised

ALL hospital births in Worcestershire will be moved permanently to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital, health bosses have decided.

The controversial decision was made at a meeting in Bromsgrove to formally decide the future of acute services in the county.

The governing bodies of Worcestershire’s three clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), which hold the finances of local NHS care, unanimously approved the proposed clinical model.

It includes moving all hospital births from Redditch’s Alexandra Hospital to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester.

The decision is likely to dismay Save the Alex campaigners who have claimed in the past that women and unborn babies would be “at risk” under such a move.

In addition, health bosses have decided that in-patient children’s services will also be moved from Redditch to Worcester, but outpatient and urgent services for children with minor and moderate illnesses will remain as they are.

Both accident and emergency departments will remain open 24 hours a day but, due to the transfer of inpatient children’s beds, the A&E at the Alexandra Hospital would be for adults aged over 16 only.

All emergency surgery will now take place at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

But most planned orthopaedic surgery, planned breast surgery and some planned gynaecology surgery will move from Worcester to Redditch.

More ambulatory care – outpatient diagnosis, observation, consultation, treatment, intervention and rehabilitation – will also go from Worcester to Redditch.

Worcester and Redditch will have new urgent care centres which will treat adults and children with minor and moderate illnesses and injuries.

Kidderminster Hospital will see an increase in day case and short stay surgeries.

All three hospitals will hold diagnostic tests and out-patient appointments.