Hundreds sign petitions to save Melton baby unit

Those in favour of retaining St Mary’s Birth Centre in the town have only until December 21 to make their views known to the local health authority.

The clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland want to carry out a £450million revamp of hospital services.

This would include relocating the Melton baby unit to a new midwifery-led service at the Leicester General Hospital.

Health bosses say the town birth centre is under-used - there were 141 babies born there in the year 2018-19 when it requires 500 to remain viable - and that it is not accessible for the majority of women across Leicestershire.

The closure of the unit has been mooted several times over the last decade but this will be the last campaign mobilised to save it.

Glynn Cartwright, of community group Melton Matters, and borough councillors Alan Pearson, Chris Fisher and Rebecca Smedley have started a petition which already has dozens of signatories.

They say in their online petition: “Once again our local birth centre is threatened with permanent closure, with an expanding town we need to retain important local services such as this one so that pre and post-natal care remains accessible for all expectant mothers across our borough.

“We have heard so many stories that a much more personal service is received by those that use St Mary’s, you feel like a person there rather than a number at the bigger hospital maternity units, yet expectant mothers are pushed to use the LRI or QMC, not our local birthing unit, and they wonder why our birth centre has such low usage.

“Do we really want to be in a situation like we are now with King Edward VII school, which was closed in 2011 as apparently there wasn’t enough pupils, “Now we have Long Field and John Ferneley at maximum capacity!

“Please sign this petition before we lose another vital service that will be needed years down the line.”

The Rutland and Melton Labour Party was first to set up a petition to save the unit and nearly 1,000 people have signed it by this morning (Friday).

The online petition launched by local constituency chair, Matt Smith, states: “We firmly believe that Melton needs its Birthing Unit.

“As a much loved, vital service, it forms an important piece of the jigsaw for women and their families requiring maternity care.

“The unit gives pregnant mothers a choice in the ethos of care and being local it saves the long drive when in labour.

“Furthermore, it provides wonderful after care, including support around breastfeeding and mothers mental health.

“The larger hospitals simply don’t have the resources for this.

“If it closed there is also the risk of more pressure on midwives as more low risk mothers might choose to have home births instead of risking the journeyy to Leicester.

“Each home birth requires two midwives present and the question is will there be enough to go around?

“Finally, the Birthing Unit not only needs to stay open but we call on it to be properly funded going forward.”

Go to www.change.org/p/university-hospitals-of-leicester-nhs-trust-save-st-mary-s-birthing-centre and to www.change.org/p/andrew-furlong-save-our-birthing-unit-from-closure to sign the petitions.

The overall Leicester hospitals revamp would provide 139 more hospital beds and move all acute care - patients receiving treatment for severe injury or illness, urgent medical conditions and those recovering from surgery - to the Leicester Royal Infirmary and to Glenfield Hospital.

Proposals also include a new maternity hospital and the first single-site dedicated children’s hospital in the East Midlands at Leicester Royal Infirmary and the expanding of Glenfield Hospital by a third to create a planned care treatment centre for operations and emergency procedures.

A new community health campus with non-acute services would be created on the site of Leicester General Hospital, including in-patient beds for patients

recovering from a stroke, new GP direct access imaging facilities such as x-rays and scans to help diagnose conditions quicker, plus the retention of the existing diabetes centre of excellence.

To see the full consultation document and complete the questionnaire survey go online at www.betterhospitalsleicester.nhs.uk or email emailing [email protected] for further details or alternatively call 0116 295 0750 to have a hard copy sent out to you.

Every householder across Leicestershire and Rutland will also receive information about the proposals as part of the public consultation exercise.