MP reveals trust birth rate is now TRIPLE forecast
THE number of births at the underfire Pennine Acute NHS Trust is three times higher than that forecast before a controversial shake-up of maternity services, MP Liz McInnes has said.
Speaking in Parliament Ms McInnes said when the Making It Better proposals, which saw maternity departments at Rochdale Infirmary and Fairfield General closed and services concentrated at North Manchester and Royal Oldham, were approved in 2007 they were based on an annual birth rate of 3,500.
But now, Ms McInnes said, the number of babies born every year is about 10,000.
Her comments come after an investigation by our sister paper the M.E.N. exposed appalling neglect in Pennine’s maternity services. It revealed how an internal report written in June – and shown to the board in private – exposed shocking failures in care, including preventable mother and baby deaths and the case of one tiny girl left to die alone in a medical waste room.
Heywood and Middleton MP Ms McInnes, a former NHS worker, has previously praised the M.E.N. for its investigation and also the bravery of the whistleblower who brought the report to light.
And speaking in Parliament last week she asked MP Philip Dunne, minister of state for the Department of Health, what action was being taken to address the strains the increased birth rate was putting on the trust.
Mr Dunne replied: “We are well aware that it (the trust) needs improvement, which is why we have buddied it up with the outstanding Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust next door. The Salford trust is led by Sir David Dalton. I will take up the matter directly with Sir David.”
It comes after Jeremy Hunt admitted he is ‘worried’ about standards of care at Pennine Acute NHS Trust after the maternity services expose.
The health secretary said he ‘totally recognised’ the situation and warned there would be ‘no hiding place’ for NHS managers who neglected their legal duties.
And he suggested historic deaths at the trust could be investigated to find out whether or not they could have been prevented. It came on the day new government rules were announced to track preventable deaths across the country. Mr Hunt announced that from this April all NHS trusts would be required to record and release figures on ‘avoidable’ deaths, data which is not currently kept.