Midwife shortage is resolved, says trust boss

Only one maternity unit out of three in Gloucestershire is fully open

The chief executive of a hospital trust where the maternity services have been ranked as "inadequate" since 2022 has said it now employs more midwives than ever before.

Kevin McNamara, who leads Gloucestershire Hospitals Trust, said its maternity services had been "a real issue but a real focus" since he took up the post in January 2024.

There are three maternity units in Gloucestershire and, since 2022, one has been partially shut and another entirely shut, both due to midwife shortages.

Mr McNamara said the trust's midwife shortage had been "resolved" and that a health needs assessment was being carried out to determine local demand for maternity services, including the closed units.

In June, Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced a national investigation into maternity care in England, listing Gloucestershire as one of "the trusts of greatest concern".

Women can give birth in Stroud but there is no postnatal care available there, while the entire Aveta Birth Unit in Cheltenham is shut.

Mr McNamara joined the trust shortly before its maternity service failures, including maternal deaths being twice the national average, were highlighted on the BBC's investigative documentary show Panorama.

"Last year, we were in a very precarious position when it came to the number of midwives," Mr McNamara told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

"We've resolved that issue, we now have more midwives than we ever have done in the service but there's more work to do with some other staff groups."

Kevin McNamara said Gloucestershire's maternity services had been a "real issue"

Mr McNamara said midwives were "being spread too thinly" so had been "consolidated" at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Gloucester, which has the county's only fully open maternity unit.

"I recognise that's disappointing for the community but what I have been clear on is I don't want to compromise safety at the expense of choice," he said.

He said the health needs assessment, when it is finished in the autumn, would help to find out what is required from the trust's maternity services over the next five to 10 years.