Birthing unit hit by staff shortages to reopen

The Newcastle Birthing Centre at the Royal Victoria Infirmary has been temporarily shut over staff shortages

Hospital leaders have vowed to give patients "confidence" in a birthing centre hit by staffing shortages.

The Newcastle Birthing Centre at the Royal Victoria Infirmary has been temporarily shut over recent months, but it is hoped hiring 50 midwives will allow it to reopen later this year.

New mothers have still been able to give birth at the RVI's delivery suite, but the midwife-led birthing centre has been closed due to a lack of staff.

Rob Harrison, the Newcastle Hospitals trust’s managing director, said he wanted to see the facility “open consistently and staffed properly this year”.

“We need to have confidence that new mums in the area can come to Newcastle Hospitals to have their babies," he told Newcastle City Council’s health scrutiny committee.

City health chiefs are currently working to deliver major improvements in the wake of a downgrading by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) earlier this year.

'Supporting staff'

A spokesperson for the trust confirmed there were plans to reopen the birthing centre, which has 12 birthing rooms, including five with pools, once the new midwives have started work.

They were unable to confirm for exactly how long the birthing centre had been closed, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In a statement on Tuesday, Newcastle Hospitals said it had been working to address its "workforce issues" and had been able to recruit 50 new midwives.

About 20 of these were student midwives, it said, who would join the trust when they qualified in September.

“We are now supporting and training those staff so that they are able to play a full role in the team and we are working towards reopening our Birth Centre later this year," the statement read.