New Cross Hospital fear on shortage of midwives
The maternity unit at New Cross Hospital is understaffed, new figures revealed today – as health bosses admitted the influx of services from Stafford would only make things worse.
A report to the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust board has revealed 13 extra midwives are needed in the unit.
So far in the current financial year, the facility has overseen almost 4,000 births.
The figures come as New Cross prepares to take on extra services from Stafford and Cannock hospitals. Trust chief executive David Loughton said maternity was the department that worried him the most.
A staffing review was undertaken last year as part of an audit of the hospital's maternity department.
The Midlands and East Strategic Health Authority took the decision last year to use a system called "birth rate place" to define how many midwives should work in maternity departments.
It uses a figure of one midwife per 30 births and as of December 2012, New Cross's maternity department had seen 3,999 births in 2012/13, which works out as 12.85 midwives short of the required target. Head of midwifery Deborah Hickman said: "The Local Supervising Authority conducted an annual audit.
"The assessor was assured that the business of supervision is conducted adequately.
"It looks at the whole service and is very much tailored to the unit.
"We require a 1:30 ratio here. We have a deficit of 12.85."
Last year the department had 4,097 births, slightly up on 4,077 for the year before. New Cross currently has 122 clinical midwives and work is taking place to improve the unit in a £170,000 scheme.
The project will see three bedrooms, a kitchen and dining area and two shower rooms installed. However, service provision at the unit is likely to change when details are finalised as to where services from Stafford Hospital are reassigned to.
It is expected that intensive care, urgent accident and emergency care and maternity patients will be spread across New Cross, as well as Walsall Manor and University Hospital North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent.
Mr Loughton said: "Maternity is the thing that bothers me the most as far as Stafford is concerned. Maternity, paediatrics and accident and emergency, I cannot see that will change in the next three years.
"We're starting to get our head around the opportunities that will be given by Stafford. We'll have a full shift system and have 24/7 cover by consultants working on shifts. It will be a better system in the long run. I wouldn't be too alarmed by this figure of 12.8 – the staffing numbers don't unduly concern me."
