Spotlight
Message from our chief executive Peter Lewis about the maternity and special care baby unit temporary changes
We recognise that the announcement on the temporary closure of the special care baby unit (SCBU) and inpatient maternity services at Yeovil Hospital last week, has understandably caused a lot of upset and concern among service users, colleagues and other stakeholders in the Yeovil and wider Somerset and Dorset community.
We took this rapid and very difficult decision because we cannot safely run the SCBU and therefore the inpatient maternity services at Yeovil Hospital, and we must prioritise the safety of mothers, birthing people and newborn babies and improve those services so that they are safe. Although communications were developed and shared at pace, we were unable to share advance information about the temporary closures and I have apologised to our stakeholders for this.
We are listening to all the concerns that have been raised, and I want to reassure you about the steps we are taking, both in the short term, and how we’re going to work towards reopening a maternity service at Yeovil Hospital as soon as it’s safe to do so. I know that this announcement has come as a shock for many colleagues, our service users, families and local communities and has created a lot of concern and anxiety, but we must put the safety of babies and children first.
Over the coming weeks and months, we will continue to support our service users and colleagues who are directly affected by the changes, and we will be working hard to reopen after six months, but we recognise that this will be challenging, and we must ensure that we can do so safely. While we will keep the situation under continual review, we will also undertake a formal review of the position after three and six months. We will also be developing a detailed action plan that identifies the specific actions required that will enable us to work towards the reopening of these services.
Over the past week, teams across the trust have worked incredibly hard to make changes to our maternity and neonatal services at Musgrove Park Hospital to support us with extra space, including triage, an additional 10 antenatal and postnatal beds, and a dedicated Transitional Care area to support women and birthing people to stay with their babies if they require special care.
We’re also working closely with all neighbouring trusts to ensure that we can collectively support decisions for a place of care and are monitoring closely any impact on capacity this may bring.
We know this decision will impact some people more than others, so we’re also undertaking a quality impact assessment to identify any areas where people may be disadvantaged, and to identify any additional support that can be provided to support them.
We have also agreed with NHS Somerset to provide a mid-point report on our progress towards reinstating the service, on 19 August. We will then formally share an update with our stakeholders, service users and colleagues in early September.
We are committed to providing safe, high quality and sustainable services for those who need them, but we must address these concerns and need the time and space to do this.
Best wishes,
Peter Lewis
Chief Executive