Maternity merger at City Hospital and Sandwell Hospital wins backing

May 9 2009 by Alison Dayani, Birmingham Mail

HOSPITAL trust board members have given their backing for executives to move ahead with proposals to merge maternity services across two hospitals on the Birmingham and Black Country border.

Bosses of City Hospital, in Winson Green, and Sandwell Hospital, in West Bromwich, have revealed they are considering a controversial merger of maternity wards across the two sites. They see sending pregnant women from across west Birmingham and Sandwell to one “full blown” unit with labour wards at City Hospital to give birth, while West Bromwich will only be left with a team of midwives.

Jessamy Kinghorn, spokeswoman for Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust which runs the hospitals, said Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust will take the lead on the proposals.

“The plans went to the Trust board meeting to see if board members were happy for more thorough investigations to take place into a reconfiguration and they were,” said Mrs Kinghorn. “It’s a sensitive subject so it will need approval from the board eventually and a public consultation. Executive officers have now been asked to do a more detailed timetable.”

The latest proposals come after controversial changes last year to merge A&E services across the two hospitals until the new hospital is built in Smethwick, which is not expected to open for another six years.

Health watchdog Coun Dierdre Alden, who is chair of the council’s health scrutiny committee, said she had feared that City Hospital would not be able to cope with the extra numbers if the plan went ahead.

“There were strong feelings about the changes to A&E and other services last year and I think these maternity mergers will create just as strong feelings,” said Coun Alden.