The decision on a proposal to transform maternity services across the area, which could see Paulton Hospital lose its maternity beds as a consequence, will be made at a public meeting of the joint Governing Bodies for the three Clinical Commissioning Groups this Thursday, 16th January.

As part of the proposals, Paulton Hospital’s Birthing Centre would close, with expectant parents having to travel to the RUH in Bath, or Frome’s Freestanding Midwifery Unit.

The CCG are proposing that instead of the community birthing and post-natal beds at Paulton, support would be offered closer to, or in, women’s homes. Published results of a long consultation have shown that 62% of respondents disagreed with stopping supporting births at Paulton and Trowbridge, and 59% disagreed over the proposal to replace the nine community post-natal beds with support closer to, or at home. 51% disagreed that closing beds would enable resources to be used more efficiently.

Closer to home, the report notes that: ‘Great disappointment and sadness were expressed about the proposed closure of the birth units and post-natal beds at the FMUs.

‘They were regarded as calm and special places that enabled birth to be retained in the local community across family generations.’

As part of the overhaul of local maternity services, the proposal for Paulton would be tohaveanewhubonthe hospital site – a pilot model providing ‘wrap around care’ for new parents. Potentially, it could be open seven days a week from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. for local families to access and receive support from midwives, physiotherapists, speech therapists and other health and care professionals.

Money would be invested in the RUH, Bath, and Salisbury hospital, which would have new units created for midwife-led births. The birthing unit at Trowbridge would also close as part of the plans.

The final recommendations are to close Paulton and Trowbridge to births in the spring, additionally close Paulton’s post-natal ward in the spring, close Chippenham’s post-natal ward after a period of up to twelve months; and open low risk units, alongside birth units, at Bath and Salisbury in 2022–2023. It would enhance Frome and Chippenham’s labour suites to accommodate women from Paulton and Trowbridge, and retain all ante/postnatal care, home visits and homebirth provision at all four sites.

Local people in the area gathered a year ago at a public meeting with the CCG to speak of their concern, and a petition was raised, gathering over 3,500 signatures. The CCG’s maternity review is the first for around twenty-five years, in which time, they say, the needs of mothers have changed, including older mothers who can experience complications during birth and then need to be rushed to the RUH; the prospect of which has seen more new mothers choose the RUH over Paulton.

Those against the plans have criticised the statistics released by the CCG that beds at Paulton Hospital’s maternity unit had around 4% occupancy during 2017, with the CCG arguing that skilled staff were left with empty beds, which is ‘demotivating’.

The CCG maintain that the proposals are not about saving money, reducing staff or closing buildings, but about delivering services more effectively.

Lucy Baker, Director of Service Delivery across B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire, said: “Over the last three years, we have worked with more than 4,500 mums, families, our staff, our partners in the community and those with an interest in maternity, to co-create our future vision for maternity services, proposals for change and final recommendations.

“Following extensive consultation and a review by an independent expert panel, we are ready for decisions to be made on the future of maternity services in the region.”

Sandra Richards, Transformation Midwife for BSW Local Maternity System, said: “We would like to thank everyone who took part in our consultation and shared their

views with us. There were many suggestions for how we can improve maternity care and these have helped inform our future plans.

“Our goal is to provide more options of choice of birth to more women and to build a strong foundation on which to enhance continuity of care so that women see the same midwife or a small group of midwives before, during and after labour.

“The full consultation report and summary, Decision Making Business Case and other supporting materials are available on the Transforming Maternity Services Together website, and the three CCG’s websites as part of Governing Bodies’ meeting papers.”

The Governing Bodies meeting will be held at the Roper Room at Dorothy House Hospice Care, Winsley, Bradford on Avon, BA15 2LE from 10 a.m. to 12 noon this

Thursday, 16th January.

Anyone who wants to attend the meeting should register using this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/ e/bsw-ccgs-governing-bodies- in-common-meeting-tickets- 52359324148

However, it will now be too late to submit questions, as these must have been submitted in writing three working days before the date of the meeting.

Paulton B&NES Councillors, Liz Hardman and Grant Johnson, (Cllr Johnson set up the petition having been part of a generation of babies born at the hospital), have been campaigning for the local ward to be kept.

Responding to the publication of the report, Cllr Hardman reacted angrily. She said: “If the CCG go ahead with these proposals, then what a waste of time and money the public consultation on the future of Maternity Services in our area has been.

“Despite the public response to strongly disagree or disagree with the proposals to close the birthing units at Paulton and Trowbridge, it is likely that the decision will be to go ahead and close these units. This is in spite of the fact that 62% of those surveyed, 1,200 out of 1,800 respondents, did not want to see these units shut. If this proposal goes ahead, our Clinical Commissioning Group will have decided to override this decisive public vote. One then wonders what was the point of the consultation if the decision was a foregone conclusion?

“We were also told that the consultation was about improving and enhancing the current provision of maternity services. One proposal was to replace the Freestanding Maternity Unit in Paulton with a similar midwife-led unit, called an Alongside Maternity Unit in the RUH. However, whilst the Paulton Maternity Unit will probably close in a couple of months, this new Alongside Maternity Unit hasn’t even reached the planning stage. Once again, mothers in our area are going to have less choice and will be forced to go to the RUH as there are few other options now open to them. If this goes ahead, it will be disappointing to see the wishes of local people totally ignored.”

The report and further information can be viewed at: transformingmaternity.org.uk