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Tuesday, 13th May 2008

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Minister orders review of maternity closure decision



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Published Date: 15 April 2008
By Carl Gavaghan
MATERNITY services in Whitby could be saved after health secretary Alan Johnson ordered the decision of the NHS trust to close the unit to be reviewed.
This move has been described as a giant step forward in the fight to allow Whitby mothers to give birth in their local hospital.

Mr Johnson has decided the evidence submitted to him by North Yorkshire County Council's scrutiny health committee appealing against Scarborough NHS Trust's decision to end home from home births in Whitby, Malton and Bridlington needs further consideration.

Coun John Blackie, chairman of the committee and one of the fiercest critics of the decision, said this was the best possible news.

He told the Whitby Gazette: "I have been told that Alan Johnson has instructed the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, which looks at these decisions, to carry out a detailed review of the trust's decision.

"If he thought there was nothing to look at he would have turned round and dismissed it out of hand so this is a very good sign. He obviously feels there is something to consider.

"Members of the panel are in Whitby today (yesterday) to start the review and I'm hopeful that we will have the decision by July; that means nothing can close in that time and if the panel sides with us then the three maternity units will remain open.

"I have heard from people at the Department of Health that they thought our 24-page document requesting the decision be overturned contained some of the best arguments they have ever seen.

"This is wonderful news for all those people who voted with their feet in Whitby and showed that they wanted their maternity unit to remain open.

"This really is a giant step in the right direction."

The NHS trust took the decision to close midwife-led home-from-home maternity units at Whitby Hospital in July last year, along with those at Bridlington and Malton.

There was an outcry in Whitby, which saw hundreds of people turn up for a public meeting at Whitby Pavilion to make their feelings known to trust chief executive Iain McInnes.

You can see some of our previous stories about the proposed closure of the maternity unit by clicking here.

The full article contains 379 words and appears in Whitby Gazette Tuesday newspaper.
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  • Last Updated: 17 April 2008 9:14 AM
  • Source: Whitby Gazette Tuesday
  • Location: Whitby
 
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castle crusader.,

scarborough 15/04/2008 11:00:26
This is real people power coming to the fore, NYCC due to ever increasing pressure from you the people of Whitby have taken action, I notice our local SBC councillors have not been so keen to act or be involved.

This Sca & NE Yorks NHS Trust Board have ridden rough shod over all aspects of our hospitals and services for too long, they are out to destroy the very fabric of health services locally, in their insane drive to save money, even at the cost of lives.
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castle crusader.,

scarborough 15/04/2008 11:13:38
Worrys by the staff at the hospital could soon be resolved, help is on the way, the hospital Trust are advertising 8 new positions, all in accounts and finance.

These post will really help the plight of the wonderful over worked under paid nurses.

They are Trainee accountant, payables clerk, payables officer, divisional finance officer, assistant income accountant, assistant corporate accountant, corporate accountant and assistant divisional finance manager.

Total wage bill for these new recruits £152,656, real value for money and such an asset to the nursing and medical staff, one would ask how on earth they could manage without them.
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Honor Mainwaring,

whitby, north yorkshire , 16/04/2008 21:59:12
Hopefully this is a success story at last,something we are long overdue, with all the knockbacks we have had with one thing or another.I myself feel strongley about the closure of our maternity ward. Afterall who wants their baby to be born in scarborough unless really necessery,i am sure that expectant mums would rather have less worries and stress knowing they can have peace of mind of having there child born in there own town in familiar surroundings and with the midwife they have come to know and feel comfortable with over the nine months of their pregnancy. July cannot come soon enough to find out the outcome.
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castle crusader.,

scarborough 18/04/2008 08:40:50
A quick update on this post, the NHS Trust Board in Sca have now advertised another four senior and executive managers, yes you guessed it, in finance these include, Finance & Procurement Manager-£43,335, Corporate Finance Manager-£43,335, Divisional Finance Manager-£43,335, Head of Finance and Procurement-£75,114, this is another £205,119 to the wage bill of a Trust thats hell bent on cutting services instead of saving lives.
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castle crusader.,

scarborough 18/04/2008 08:47:09
Sca NHS Trust Board have now advertised another four senior and executive managers, yes you guessed it, in finance these include, Finance & Procurement Manager-£43,335, Corporate Finance Manager-£43,335, Divisional Finance Manager-£43,335, Head of Finance and Procurement-£75,114, this is another £205,119 to the wage bill of a Trust thats hell bent on cutting services instead of saving lives. In the last month a total of 12 new posts in finance and accountancy have been advertised, bringing the total extra wage bill for this department to £330,775, this is really letting the lunatics take over the asylum.
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castle crusader.,

scarborough 19/04/2008 09:00:30
Just been brought to my attention, in the last few weeks the Maternity unit at Scarborough has had to send mothers and babies to York as it could not cope with the numbers requiring to use the service.

Be warned DO NOT LOSE YOUR LOCAL HOSPITAL MATERNITY SERVICES.
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castle crusader.,

scarborough 25/04/2008 08:25:08
OK folks here's your chance to have your say, to Save Your Maternity Services.

The Sca & NE Yorks NHS Trust Board have failed to listen for years and they are not listening now.

At last someone who is prepared to listen the Independant Review body, make your views clear.

You can mention, The lack of ambulances, Road conditions in the season and in bad weather, journey time, The unsafe practise of having babys born at the side of the road, the fact that Sca hospital cannot cope now wiyh the demand on maternity services, mothers and babys are regularly being transfered to York due to overcrowding at Sca and finally one close to all our hearts, we want our children born and registered in their own home town, not somewhwere 20/40 mile up the road.
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castle crusader.,

scarborough 30/04/2008 08:17:54
Trust the Trust Board? not likely!!!.
Now they want you to go on a nightmare journey to Scarborough's thirld world maternity unit.

A SCARBOROUGH woman, who gave birth to a stillborn baby at Scarborough Hospital, is planning legal action, claiming staff failed to spot the problems with her pregnancy.
Sonia Connarty, 31, gave birth to the baby boy in a room by herself in the accident and emergency department after being told the day before her baby was “fine and healthy”.

Miss Connarty, of Prospect Road, who was four months pregnant, was bleeding heavily on the Thursday afternoon before the Easter weekend.

She contacted her midwife who told her she needed a scan immediately.

However, when the midwife contacted the hospital, she was told no staff were available to perform the scan until the following Tuesday, due to the bank holiday weekend.

Comment!!
The NHS Trust Board can spend £100s of thousands of pounds on 26 accounts and finance staff to manage the hospital budget, but can you have a scan on a bank holiday? NO YOU CANNOT!!, not even when your midwife has requested it on safety grounds.

Lives are now being put in jeprody and even lost due to the penny pinching Trust Board, they are perectly happy to sit back and watch the services at the hospital decline, whilst building their paper pushing empire.

This madness has got to stop, before any more lives are lost.

If this couples case is proven or if the Trust Board decide to settle out of court it could cost the NHS hundreds of thousands, is this the Trust Boards idea of financial prudence, I think they probably need even more accountants.
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