Births and inpatient maternity care at Daisy Hill Hospital could be relocated 21 miles away after a number of retirements and resignations.

Births and inpatient maternity care at Daisy Hill Hospital in Northern Ireland could be temporarily moved because of staff shortages. The Southern Health and Social Care Trust said it was facing significant workforce pressures following a number of consultant obstetrician retirements and resignations.

Despite sustained recruitment efforts across the UK and internationally, the Trust has not yet been able to recruit enough consultants to fill the vacancies. It said its intention remained to maintain inpatient maternity services at Daisy Hill, with the safety of women and babies its “overriding priority”.

However, it is now developing a contingency plan, which would involve moving the services to Craigavon Area Hospital, 21 miles away. As part of the plans, the trust would look at changes needed at both hospitals and the capacity required at Craigavon to accommodate additional births. It would also consider the provision of appropriate obstetric support for the emergency department at Daisy Hill.

Trust chief executive Steve Spoerry said health minister Robbie Butler had asked the wider health and social care system to explore what support could be provided to help maintain services at Daisy Hill. The trust is continuing recruitment while working with health service partners to explore other options. Spoerry said it was “responsible and necessary” to develop a contingency plan while those discussions continued.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster, Spoerry said it was “more likely than not” that maternity services would move, but it was “not quite a done deal.”

He said the trust was providing the update because it was committed to communicating “openly and transparently” with pregnant women, staff and the wider public.

Staff working extra hours

Beverley Adams, divisional medical director for maternity and women’s services, said staff had worked additional hours and made every effort to maintain services at both hospitals.

However, she said recent staffing changes had placed the service under “significant pressure”.

“Additional support is required if inpatient maternity care is to continue safely across both sites,” Adams added.

She said the trust recognised the announcement “may cause concern”, but its responsibility was to ensure every woman had access to safe and responsive maternity care.

The Trust said it would continue to keep pregnant women and staff informed as the situation develops. In the last year, 1,713 babies were born at Daisy Hill Hospital and 2,768 at Craigavon Area Hospital.

The situation at Daisy Hill is a result of inadequate long-term workforce planning and difficulties recruiting and retaining doctors in Northern Ireland, said Clodagh Corrigan, of the British Medical Association’s Northern Ireland Council.

Corrigan called for greater transparency and meaningful consultation with doctors and staff before decisions are made about service changes. She added that the abrupt nature of the announcement causes “unacceptable staff anxiety and uncertainty”.