After administrators recommended a transfer of services from Stafford Hospital to Stoke-on-Trent – doctors insist that they will be able to cope. The Trust Special Administrators (TSA) also suggested on Wednesday that Stafford Hospital should become part of the University Hospital of North Staffordshire (UHNS), after the Mid Staffordshire trust went into administration on the 16th of April.
Recommended services for transfer include hip fracture treatment, births and child inpatient admission, with the further hope to dissolve Stafford’s Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. The centre currently has 230 midwives and sees the births of around 5,800 babies a year. However, under the new plans, approximately 1,800 mothers to-be will have to travel to Stoke-on-Trent to receive assistance with childbirth.
The chief nurse of the UHNS, Liz Rix, strongly believes, however, that their maternity centre has a lot of room to grow, meaning more mothers can be seen on a daily basis. Chris Bourne, the lead steward for the Royal College of Nursing at UHNS, said: “We have been told the hospital will receive £70m to increase capacity for maternity services and critical care services displaced from Stafford.”
What Stafford is losing to UHNS:
- Child deliveries
- Child inpatient admissions
- Care for new born babies/special care baby unit
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Hip fractures
- [Downgrade in Stafford’s critical care unit and the loss of some emergency surgery]
Mark Hackett, the chief executive of UHNS, said that with enough capital, the centre would be able to take the transfer of services with ease, while ensuring that the quality of service is not diluted for the public.
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