News Release

27th March 2002

MINISTER PUTS FUTURE OF MATERNITY UNIT IN LICHFIELD AND BURNTWOOD HOSPITAL IN DOUBT

In questions to the Department of Health yesterday, Michael Fabricant tackled the Health Minister on the future of Lichfield's maternity unit and the total closure of the Hammerwich Hospital in Burntwood. The Minister failed to answer on the question of funding. "The failure to make a statement on the funding of midwifery lead maternity units, promised by the Government before the General Election, and passing the buck back onto the under funded local health authority is very worrying", says Michael Fabricant. "The Health Authority only decided to maintain Lichfield's maternity unit - for which local people had campaigned so hard - on the understanding that the Government review would give some clear direction. This review now seems to have mysteriously evaporated into thin air and the Minister has passed the buck back to Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts with no promise of funding".

He had asked Health Minister, Yvette Cooper, to make a statement on the future of midwife-led maternity units. She answered in the Commons Chamber: "The NHS provides various types of care for women during pregnancy and childbirth, including care in midwife-led units for low-risk births. The Government expect that variety to continue to support choice for women, although it is for health authorities and trusts to decide the pattern of service provision in each area."

But Michael then reminded the Minister that a delegation of Lichfield and Burntwood hospital charity workers and Labour and Conservative Councillors had met Health Ministers in Whitehall at the beginning of November last year to raise their concerns. Eventually the Government sent a reply in late January which made no mention of two points raised by the delegation: (1) the future of Lichfield's maternity unit; and (2) the maintenance of a hospital in Burntwood. Michael explained yesterday that he immediately wrote back to the Minister about these points, but 2 months later there has still been no reply.

He told the Minister that before the General Election the Government had promised a Review into the future of the financing of maternity units and asked when the report would be published. He asked in Parliament "Can the honourable Lady finally put the people of Lichfield and Burntwood out of their misery and say what is the future for in-patient health care?"

The Minister simply replied: "The hon. Gentleman will be aware that it is for the health authority and, in future, primary care trusts to propose local services and their configuration in his area. However, I can tell him that the Government support properly established midwife-led maternity units, which are extremely popular with women. The maternity and neonatal work force group is looking at all kinds of models of care in maternity services and the different work force requirements and procedures needed to support them."

Michael Fabricant today says: "So now it's clear. Despite all the promises made before the 2001 election, the Minister avoided any mention of the publication of the Review of funding on midwife-lead maternity units, such as our own in Lichfield, and had nothing to say about the closure of the Hammerwich Hospital. They have washed their hands of both issues. The maternity and neonatal work force group has no responsibility for funding. The buck has been passed to our local Primary Care Trust with no promise of the finance needed to maintain these services. With this rather disappointing news, I will be contacting the PCT to determine whether they will at least be able to keep open our maternity unit".