Admission over 'growing challenge' to meet Dr Gray's maternity target
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HEALTH bosses have admitted that meeting the deadline to restore maternity services at Dr Gray’s Hospital was a "growing challenge".
An update on progress towards the April 2020 target date was discussed at a meeting of the Grampian NHS Board on Thursday, November 7, after the Moray maternity unit was downgraded in August last year due to staffing issues.
The report by management on women and children’s services noted that the current interim midwifery-led service was working well – but said delivery of consultant-led obstetric services in Elgin was unlikely to be met in spring.
They said the issue was further complicated by "ever increasing demands on the anaesthetic service".
The meeting heard that to support the return to a consultant-led obstetric service in Elgin would demand a significant increase in the workforce of anaesthetists – and that was "unlikely to be delivered at pace".
The proposed model for maternity care at Dr Gray's is described as "non-standard" in that it would restore a level of consultant-led intrapartum care and continue midwifery-led care, but would not deliver all the features of a full consultant-level obstetric service.
Frustration is growing among local Keep MUM campaigners on the slow pace of progress. They said the situation was creating anxiety for Moray mums-to-be facing winter journeys to Aberdeen.
Kirsty Watson, Keep MUM spokeswoman, said: "Moray women are continuing to experience a huge amount of stress and anxiety. This is inevitable, given our geographical location, the dangerous A96, the unpredictable nature of obstetrics and all of it caused by the downgrade of the unit in August 2018. Moray is ‘stranded’ without the service which we need and for which the arguments have already been made and won.
"We are clear that the midwifery-led unit in Elgin is working well for low-risk women who need no consultant intervention – this is a minority of women. The bottom line is that most Moray women are booked to give birth in Aberdeen or have to go there for induction or are transferred in labour.
"There is absolutely no sign of NHS Grampian working fast to restore the unit – everything is moving unbelievably slowly. Various obstacles appear to be preventing the restoration of the service. For example, we are waiting for the findings of a safety review which was initially going to report at the end of August.
"Moray needs the consultant obstetric unit restored on safety grounds. NHS Grampian must place women at the centre of that service and build the service round women. That has to be the starting point – if there is a will to do so, it will be done.
"Currently, the starting point is an accumulation of obstacles, some of which could have been anticipated and planned for. This means that NHS Grampian is failing to provide a ‘good birth experience’ for the women of Moray. It’s the job of the board to deliver on this and their increasing failure to do so is profoundly disappointing.
"We have always paid tribute to the medical and midwifery staff in Dr Gray’s Hospital who are doing their very best in the most trying of circumstances. They are greatly appreciated by the people of Moray."
However, there was more positive progress on children's services.
The redesigned service will see children moved from Elgin to Aberdeen for hospital stays of more than 24 hours.
Board members were told they were on track towards the proposed new model service model in line with the April 2020 target and that action to recruit for the new paediatric posts was under way. The posts are expected to be filled by February 2020.
