Summer births put mothers ‘at risk’
WOMEN in labour are more likely to be turned away from maternity units at weekends and during summer as staff numbers plummet, a report has found.
The survey of NHS hospitals throughout the country revealed that wards are 30 per cent more likely to close their doors to new arrivals towards the end of the week, with too few midwives to run services safely.
A staff shortfall has left units particularly vulnerable in summer, the study says, with 50 per cent more closures in June compared with January. Patients groups said pregnant women faced an “absolutely frightening” situation in maternity units and warned that their safety was at risk.
Freedom of information requests reveal that from 2011-15, delivery wards were shut 2,268 times – meaning women were turned away on 567 occasions a year.
On average, such closures lasted for 16 hours, forcing thousands in labour to be turned away. The report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that while some correlated with busy periods, there were variations depending on the day and month. Obstetric units were 30 per cent more likely to close between Thursdays and Saturdays.
There were 50 per cent more closures in June, compared with January, even though the number of births was roughly the same. The authors said the patterns suggested that staff shortages were behind the trend.
Elaine Kelly, a senior research economist at IFS, said: “Maternity units are more likely to close towards the end of the week and during holidays, pointing to staff availability as a key problem.”
Joyce Robins, from Patient Concern, said the situation was intolerable, forcing too many couples to endure terrifying journeys in search of care.
“It’s extraordinary that people who deliver babies refuse to work weekends or are not employed in sufficient numbers,” she said. “It must be absolutely frightening for couples to be left in the lurch like this..”
Over the five years, there were 142 closures of obstetric units during June, compared with 95 during January. There were also 42 per cent more closures of midwife-led units in June compared with January. The figures show 791 closures on Thursdays to Saturdays, compared with 606 obstetric unit closures on Monday to Wednesday. An NHS England spokesman said: “There is always a planned alternative when any ward stops taking extra women and, as the report makes clear, maternity units that follow this procedure have lower death rates.”
A Department of Health spokesman said: “The NHS is one of the safest places in the world to give birth and as this report says, maternity closures are not common. However, we want maternity care to be even better, which is why we have 2,119 more midwives on our wards today than in 2010 and another 6,500 in training.”