Salford, Rochdale and Bury maternity units to close

Three consultant-led maternity units in Greater Manchester are to be closed in a major shake-up of maternity provision in the region.

NHS North West has approved the closure of units in Rochdale, Salford and Bury. A unit in Trafford has already closed.

The overhaul of maternity care in Greater Manchester was approved in 2007 by the Labour government but was then put on hold in 2010, pending a review.

Consultant-led maternity care will now be concentrated at eight hospitals.

St Mary's Hospital in central Manchester, the Royal Bolton Hospital and the Royal Oldham Hospital will become regional "super-centres".

'Very worried'

There will also be a midwife-led unit in Salford, which is expected to be able to take 650 women per year.

A spokesman for NHS Salford said if a patient has to be transferred from the midwife-led unit to emergency care they would be taken by ambulance to the maternity unit at St Mary's Hospital.

It has yet to be decided whether there will be similar units in Bury and Rochdale.

NHS North West board members are now satisfied the reorganisation meets four tests ordered by the government.

Senior doctors had claimed further delays could affect patient safety.

The proposals sparked protests from campaigners

But some midwives said they were "very worried" about the safety of Salford women.

They said mothers-to-be from deprived areas would have to travel further to give birth.

Mary Reed, from the Royal College of Midwives, said: "The capacity has already been reached, so once these units close, where will these women give birth?"

But Mike Farrar, chief executive of NHS North West, said: "We need to make sure that they [the mothers] have the best opportunity to have a healthy baby.

"You have got a better chance of having a healthy baby... on the basis of eight sites providing services with a new increased neonatal capacity across Greater Manchester. We believe that will improve the life chances of those babies.

"If it means in some cases they have to travel further then the view of the clinicians is that this further travel is worth doing to make sure you have the best possible chance for your baby."

Campaigners staged a series of protests against the changes after they were proposed, with 40,000 people signing a petition against the closure of Salford Royal's unit.

The three consultant-led maternity units are due to close by the beginning of next year.