Today, during a public meeting held in Portrush, the Board of the Northern Health and Social Care Trust gave their approval to a recommendation stating that all hospital births should occur at Antrim Hospital. This recommendation came after a 14-week public consultation on the future of acute maternity services, which began in late November of the previous year.
Clinicians have advised the Trust that the current provision of maternity services at Causeway Hospital is unsustainable due to falling birth rates, workforce challenges, and the absence of neonatal special care baby unit facilities.
Both clinically deliverable options presented in the consultation proposed the transfer of all obstetric consultant-led births from Causeway Hospital to Antrim, while retaining and enhancing early pregnancy assessment units, antenatal and postnatal clinics, and scheduled ambulatory services on the Causeway site.
One of the options suggested the possibility of establishing a freestanding midwifery-led unit at Causeway Hospital, which has been discounted for now, pending the outcome of a Department of Health review that includes service provision at such units.
Dr Dave Watkins, Medical Director at the Northern Trust, stated, “We have always been clear about the reasons why change is required. Serious concerns continue to be raised by clinicians in relation to the safety and sustainability of the Trust’s current model of maternity services and we cannot ignore those.
“Our ultimate aim is to have a new-build Women and Children’s Unit on the Antrim Hospital site. This will provide high-quality, purpose-built accommodation for maternity and paediatric services. However, it is subject to business case approval and funding availability and is unlikely to be commissioned for service before 2027/28 at the earliest.
“So we urgently need an interim solution that will address the challenges.
“The public consultation allowed us to explain the need for change and to present for consideration what we believe were the only two clinically deliverable options. Hopefully we have achieved that but we also acknowledge that change is never easy and we understand the very real concerns that many people have and which have been well reflected throughout the consultation period.
“In recommending the transfer of all hospital births to Antrim, that does not prevent us revisiting the possibility of setting up a midwifery-led unit in the Trust at some point in the future, should the outcome of the Department’s review offer that flexibility.”
