Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, today urged Ministers to save Stafford Hospital’s consultant-led maternity unit during a debate in Westminster Hall.
Gavin made the intervention during the afternoon debate on the ‘Trust special administration of Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.’
He said: “Most of my constituents and, I am sure, many of my hon. Friend’s, would find it deplorable if Stafford hospital did not have a consultant-led maternity unit.
“The pressure that that will place on so many hospitals—Walsall, Manor, New Cross, Queen’s or the University Hospital of North Staffordshire—will be unsustainable. I urge Ministers to look at the issue again.”
The closure of the consultant-led maternity unit at the hospital is one of a series of changes that will be brought about by the upcoming dissolution of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust.
Existing proposals would see a new midwifery unit created at Stafford Hospital, with all consultant-led services in the future being dealt with at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.
The announcement was made in the wake of a huge public campaign, which saw more than 50,000 march through the streets of Stafford in a bid to keep maternity and paediatric services in the town