Countdown to the closure of Fairfield Maternity Unit (From This Is Lancashire)

Countdown to the closure of Fairfield Maternity Unit

11:20am Monday 13th February 2012 in News

THE clock is ticking down to the closure of Fairfield Hospital’s maternity and special care baby unit.

March 2 is set to be the final day, although that has yet to be set in stone.

Women will no longer have the choice to have their baby at Fairfield Hospital as the inpatient maternity service will relocate to new and expanded units at North Manchester General and the Royal Bolton Hospitals.

The special care baby unit and the children’s ward at Fairfield will also relocate to the same Hospitals.

The changes are being made as part of the Greater Manchester-wide Making it Better programme of improvements to maternity, newborn and children’s services.

Health bosses have been asked 12 questions by the Bury Times that people of the borough may most want to know.

What do the Making it Better changes mean for Bury?

Olubusola Amu, consultant obstetrician, Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust: “Most day-to-day maternity care will not change. Routine antenatal and postnatal care will remain at Fairfield General and at children’s centres and clinics in Bury. An inpatient maternity service at Fairfield General Hospital will no longer be available from early March 2011, but the majority of families should only need to attend a hospital outside Bury for the actual birth of the baby.

“There will be expanded and improved maternity and neonatal units at The Royal Bolton and North Manchester General Hospitals to care for pregnant women from Bury and their newborn babies. There will be additional capacity and more staff at these hospitals to make care safer.

“For children, more care is being provided at home by an expanded team of children’s community nurses. These nurses help keep children out of hospital or get them home sooner if they do need to be admitted. Overnight hospital care for children in the Bury area will be provided at North Manchester General Hospital where a new children’s unit will provide a first class environment for children and their families.”

Does this mean there will be no more babies born in Bury?

Cathy Trinick, divisional director of Women and Children’s Services, Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust: “We hope that more women will choose to give birth at home — these babies will therefore be born in Bury. A home birth is a choice already available to healthy women with a routine pregnancy and we will be looking at how we can encourage more women to consider this option. However, if women choose to have their baby in hospital, North Manchester General or the Royal Bolton Hospitals will be the nearest options.”

What advice are pregnant women in Bury being given now that their local unit is no longer an option for the birth of their baby?

Cathy Trinick: “Pregnant women are continuing to receive routine antenatal care and advice about their options from Bury midwives at Fairfield Hospital, local clinics or at home. This part of their care won’t change and we expect most women will only need to travel outside Bury for the birth of their baby.

“We have printed information available and are encouraging women to ask questions about their care. Tours around the new and expanded units at North Manchester General and The Royal Bolton Hospital are available, so women and their partners can see new facilities and meet staff. We want to make sure that women feel confident and well informed about the choices available to them.”

Why can’t services stay as they are, with women being able to give birth at Fairfield Hospital?

Olubusola Amu: “Nationally, there are not enough doctors, nurses and midwives to provide the safest staffing levels at all Greater Manchester’s children’s and maternity units. When there are fewer maternity and children’s units, there will be more staff at each unit. This means there will be senior doctors on duty for more hours of the week — a factor known to be better for mums and babies. There will be more doctors and nurses to care for poorly babies and more midwives to provide one-to-one care for mums in labour.”

Why can’t more staff and better equipment just be put into the units we’ve already got, investing in these services at more hospitals instead of taking them away?

Olubusola Amu: “There are too many hospitals in Greater Manchester offering the same services and not enough specialist doctors in the country to provide the staffing levels we need to provide the safest possible care.

“Even if there were enough doctors, there wouldn’t be enough patients to keep them all busy enough to maintain their skills. It is much safer for patients to have fewer, more specialised units, where doctors, nurses and midwives can experience a wide variety of more complex cases. With fewer, more modern units, the availability of staff and the development of specialist skills will continue to improve.”

Aren’t changes to local NHS services like this just about saving money?

Leila Williams, director of Service Transformation, NHS Greater Manchester: “Absolutely not. Making it Better involves extra investment in maternity, baby and children’s services to improve them. As part of the Making it Better changes, £120 million has been spent on improving and expanding maternity, neonatal and children’s units and buying new equipment. An extra £10 million a year will be spent on extra doctors, nurses and midwives and training. Making it Better is about investing in a safe and sustainable system of maternity, neonatal and children’s care for Greater Manchester, not to save money.”

How can services be safer for Bury women and babies if they have further to travel?

Michael Maresh, clinical lead for the Greater Manchester Maternity Network: “We do appreciate that some women will have further to travel to get to hospital in labour. Feedback from families suggests that they are comfortable with travelling further if they know that the care they receive when they arrive will be of the highest possible standard. We have taken this on board when designing the new services. Our staffing levels will be enhanced, and it is the improved availability of a doctor, midwife or nurse which should give families confidence. For routine care, we know that families would rather not travel, so we have invested in community services and are ensuring that most appointments will still be provided close to home.”

What happens if pregnant women need emergency care, there is bad traffic on the way to hospital or the journey needs to be made in poor conditions, like snow?

Cathy Trinick: “Any journey can be unpredictable and we prepare women by encouraging them to familiarise themselves with their route to hospital and visit the maternity unit they are expecting to give birth at in advance. They can call their midwife if they are worried and use ambulance services in case of an emergency. However, as the vast majority of births are routine, without complications, and with midwives available by phone and in the community, we are confident of providing, safe, year round care to pregnant women and their babies. However, as complications sometimes arise, we need to ensure that specialist doctors are available for women when they are needed. Fewer maternity units mean more senior doctors will be present on the labour ward for more hours every week — a factor known to improve outcomes for mums and babies in most need of specialist care.”

The neonatal unit will also transfer from Fairfield Hospital. What will happen to babies from Bury who need medical care after they are born?

Anthony Emmerson, clinical lead for the Greater Manchester Neonatal Network: “Every remaining maternity unit in Greater Manchester will have a neonatal unit, and Bury babies will be treated at the nearest unit offering the care they require. There are new neonatal units at North Manchester General and the Royal Bolton Hospital that provide modern, high tech facilities.

“Smaller and more poorly babies may need more specialist care at one of Greater Manchester’s neonatal intensive care units. Under Making it Better there will be three such units, the existing unit at St Mary’s Hospital and new units at the Royal Bolton Hospital and at The Royal Oldham Hospital. Having the unit at the Royal Bolton will bring the highest standards of care much nearer to families in the Bury area. Children’s Community Nurses and new teams of neonatal nurses working in the community mean more support for babies to be cared for at home will be available.”

How are services for children changing?

Dr Mark Robinson: “We know that parents and children would rather avoid an overnight stay in hospital, so our focus is on providing care at home or in the community when it is safe to do so, which can keep more families together at home.

“Overnight, inpatient children’s services will no longer be available at Fairfield Hospital from early March 2012. The few children who are admitted to hospital will be cared for in the new children’s unit at North Manchester General.

“A new Children’s Assessment and Observation Unit is in place at Fairfield Hospital, as well as at North Manchester General Hospital, offering emergency care over a longer period than would otherwise be possible in an adult A&E. With dedicated children’s doctors and nurses on these units, the majority of children will receive immediate care and be allowed to go home. Children’s Community Nurses in Bury may offer continued care at home or in local clinics if required.”

What are family members supposed to do about visiting if they don’t have access to their own transport?

Stuart North, director at NHS Bury: “ NHS Bury is reviewing the impact of the changes on travel and working with transport providers to look at the best way to fill any gaps that we find. Depending on where people live, it is inevitable that some journey times will increase. However, first and foremost, it is our priority to ensure that patient care is of the highest standard. Routine appointments will still be provided locally and the changes to children’s services should result in fewer children needing to be admitted to hospital.”

What will happen to the staff who work at Fairfield Hospital?

Leila Williams: “It is important that we keep hold of valued and experienced staff, so those affected by these changes have been able to choose where they would like to work following the changes.

“It is business as usual at Fairfield Hospital until the changes take place, so they are continuing to support families there as normal. Once overnight services transfer from Fairfield Hospital, staff will move to their preferred unit.

“Many of those formerly based at Fairfield will continue to provide care to pregnant women, babies and children and young people from the Bury area.”