Maternity unit to stay shut for foreseeable future

The unit was first closed in 2022

A maternity unit which has been closed since 2022 will not reopen for the foreseeable future - despite a boost in midwife recruitment, hospital bosses have said.

The Aveta Birth Centre at Cheltenham General Hospital was closed temporarily due to staff shortages and a need to ensure safety, according to hospital officials.

It means people in Cheltenham will continue having to travel to either Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Gloucester or Stroud Maternity Hospital for births.

"Our focus will always be the safety and experience of mums, babies and families and while staffing levels have improved there is more work underway," said a spokesperson for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

"A decision on reopening Aveta will not be made until after the completion of the health needs assessment, and the national maternity and neonatal review," they added.

The trust said it had recruited the equivalent of 25 full-time midwives since the closure, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"Over the past two years, we have focused significantly on increasing the number of maternity staff across our services," a spokesperson said.

They added: "It is important to recognise though that midwives are just one part of the team that support women and babies, and we are currently focusing on recruiting additional obstetricians also to support the growing number of women who require medical support."

'Complexity of care'

The trust also said while the number of overall births in Gloucestershire had decreased, the complexity of care required had not.

A spokesperson said: "The number of babies born in Gloucestershire has fallen but the complexity of care has increased – more women having caesarean sections now than ever before is just one example of this.

"This means the needs of women are changing, and we need to understand what that means in order to plan how we deliver safe and high-quality care for the future."