THE HERALD UNDERSTANDS that Hywel Dda University Health Board will announce next week that the Midwife Led Unit at Withybush Hospital, which opened in 2014, will change from a 24-hour service to a daytime only service very soon.
Hywel Dda Health Board has said they have no plans to reduce opening times, but said discussions had been held with staff about rotas, but both The Pembrokeshire Herald and Western Telegraph have been contacted by concerned staff.
In the present arrangement expectant mothers can choose between the Midwife Led Unit at Withybush Hospital and the full consultant led service at Glangwili Hospital.
It represents the latest in salami-slicing of services at Withybush General Hospital.
The news comes days after the Prime Minister called on the Welsh Government to do more to prevent the loss of services at Withybush.
Keith Jones, Assistant Director of Acute Services for Hywel Dda University Health Board said: “Withybush Hospital Midwife Led Unit is open 24/7 and we have absolutely no plans to reduce the opening hours of this important service to the local population.
“We have been discussing the options to improve the efficiency of our staffing model by achieving a greater integration of our community based midwives and staff based in the Midwife Led Unit. This will not reduce patient access to the Midwife Led Unit, which will remain open to women in Pembrokeshire 24/7.”
Meanwhile, local community midwives will be taking part in a national trial of home delivery bags thanks to charity Baby Lifeline.
Hywel Dda University Health Board is the only Welsh health board to have been selected for this pilot.
Lynn Hurley, Lead Midwife for Community and Midwife Led Units for Hywel Dda said: “We are very excited to be a part of the trial and it is particularly significant as we are the only Welsh health board taking part.
“We were selected to due to the large land mass that we cover and because of our home delivery rate.
“Our community midwives look forward to having new and standardised bags in order to promote a safe and high-quality service for both mothers and midwives, and myself and midwifery colleague Rebecca Johnson have worked hard to ensure that this standard is achieved through our work with Baby Lifeline.
“On behalf of the health board I’d like to thank Baby Lifeline for enabling us to take part in this trial which I hope is eventually rolled out across Wales.”
