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Hemel Hempstead Labour Party and its Parliamentary Spokesperson Ayfer Orhan have submitted a response to the local NHS Primary Care Trust consultation regarding the possibility of reopening the Mid-Wife led Birthing Unit at Hemel Hempstead General Hospital. In the response we have supported the case for re-opening the unit. The response is detailed below:
The Future of the Hemel Hempstead birthing unit and related maternity services Consultation Questionnaire.
Please regard the statement below as the answer to questions 1-4 of the consultation.
We do not support the findings of the Templeton-Canning report on several grounds. Although we fully respect the work of the National Clinical Advisory team there are areas of methodology and assumptions made that we feel create a bias towards the permanent closure of maternity services in Hemel Hempstead. These in themselves are not our largest area of concern but the report reduces the impact and in some ways ignores the views of those families living in Hemel Hempstead.
More importantly however we do not believe that the conclusion of the report takes into account local needs of both other services (both statutory and voluntary) and most concerning, the vulnerable service users in Hemel Hempstead. The potential outcomes of this permanent closure could result in poorer services and reduced choices for those families most in need and their children.
It is our conclusion that in researching the report and then summarising this research there have been several methodological errors that in our opinion bias the findings in favour of closing the maternity unit in Hemel Hempstead and we shall restrict these observations to the two that we feel have the biggest implications to the report:
1. The sample of parents recruited to the survey were predominantly from the Watford area, only 28% were from Hemel Hempstead and so the people of Hemel Hempstead had a smaller voice than those in Watford. This makes statements such as 'Watford ABC was prioritised by the large proportion of women throughout the region' meaningless as this the local provider for the majority of the sample.
2. The self selecting sample is unlikely to be made up of parents from hard to reach groups.
The report relied heavily on staffing issues, especially the difficulty in keeping the unit fully staffed and this is mentioned several times throughout the report. The staff at the unit were trained professionals and that there were no untoward incidents reported. Indeed the report recognises that the unit was award winning and valued by both staff and patients alike.
It is our understanding that staff at the time were often required to work in the Watford unit, to the detriment of the Hemel Hempstead Birthing Unit.
Financial viability of the unit in mentioned within the report, however on costs, the PCT claims that the cost of a child being delivered in an acute hospital is greater that that of a child delivered in a general hospital such as Hemel Hempstead. We feel that to have an adequately staffed unit in Hemel would take pressure both practically and financially off the unit in Watford.
These technical issues however cannot detract from the fact that the lack of maternity services in Hemel Hempstead has it's greatest impact upon the families it seeks to serve, and those most effected will be the hard to reach. Having birthing units in Watford takes families away from the support structures most needed by them at a time they need them most.
Services both statutory and voluntary that support new families and those most in need in Hemel Hempstead are based within the town. Having the birthing unit based in Watford will preclude these services being able to be involved from the beginning. This distance will also make it difficult for family and friends to offer the support that is so often vital in the early days after birth. This lack of services and personal support is magnified for those families most in need.
The NCT survey looking at issues that were most important to service users found that the second most important aspect of care was a birthing unit accessible within 20 minutes. Travel to Watford from Hemel Hempstead takes longer than 20 minutes for those with their own transport. To the North of Hemel Hempstead within the catchment area this time increases significantly. For families with less resources living in Hemel Hempstead this distance reduces choice even further.
In conclusion, it seems that this popular resource was taken from the community because of the financial pressures of the trust who were seeking to expand their services elsewhere. The unit was centrally located, well liked and provided excellent care in an appropriate setting. We accept that the unit needed staffing that was prioritised and would have benefited from some re-structure, however the difficulties seen in the Watford unit that are reported do not seem very different and Watford does not receive the levels of satisfaction reported within by the Hemel Hempstead unit.
The birthing unit has already been a great loss to new parents in Hemel Hempstead and it's permanent removal will have a long lasting effect on all families and services working with young children and parents. The greatest effect however will be to those families that need the support the most. We therefore reject the findings of the report and ask the trust to re-consider their position for the long term health of families and children living in Hemel Hempstead by reopening the birthing unit in Hemel Hempstead and seeing that it is adequately resourced and staffed to ensure long term viability.
As always, Ayfer is keen to hear what local residents think. Please get in touch to share your thoughts on the services delivered on the hospital site.
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Hemel Hospital Update
