Betsi Cadwaladr health board baby care U-turn confirmed

Plans to suspend consultant-led maternity care at one of north Wales' main hospitals have been scrapped, the health board has confirmed.

Members of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board meeting on Tuesday backed a report recommending that services are left unchanged.

Staff shortages prompted the move, with services at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Denbighshire threatened.

The board said following a recruitment drive staffing levels have recovered.

The health board first put forward plans to change maternity care in autumn 2014, prompting widespread protests.

The preferred proposal would have seen maternity doctors from Glan Clwyd Hospital transferred to strengthen teams at Bangor's Ysbyty Gwynedd and Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

That meant Glan Clwyd would have only had a stand alone midwife-led maternity unit for low-risk pregnancies.

Campaigners were set to challenge the decision through the courts and the board began a fresh consultation process over the summer.

Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething said: "It has been important to give people certainty about the temporary options for women's and maternity services in north Wales.

"The approval of the recommendations by the board gives the public, staff, pregnant women and patients certainty for the immediate future."

For the Tories, Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar said it was "hugely welcome news and represents a victory for common sense".

The Clwyd West AM added: "It's now absolutely crucial that Labour ministers see through on their promise to swiftly establish the new neonatal intensive care centre for north Wales."

'Alarm bells'

Addressing the board members, medical director Prof Matt Makin said services were becoming unstable in 2014.

"It was a challenge in recruiting middle-grade doctors and alarm bells were ringing," he said.

"We've kept things safe, but we have been managing things in critical incident mode.

"What's changed is that there's been a really big push in recruiting new staff. We appointed seven new consultants in late August."

Prof Makin said the recruitment meant "more boots on the ground" for maternity services.

The board unanimously backed the report recommendations, which also included rejecting temporary changes at either Ysbyty Gwynedd or Wrexham Maelor.

However, the board has also been warned that further work will be needed to "consider the long-term sustainable model" for maternity services.

The board is expected to consider a fresh report from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists on the issue in early 2016.