The NHS in Gloucestershire has shared an update on maternity services following a recent briefing to Gloucestershire County Council’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
The Maternity Health Needs Assessment (HNA) has been published alongside a Case for Change, setting out how needs are changing and why services may need to adapt to meet current and future challenges.
The Maternity HNA looks at who is using maternity services in Gloucestershire and how their needs are evolving.
It shows that more women are experiencing complex pregnancies, with increasing demand for obstetric‑led care, including induction of labour and caesarean births. It also highlights widening health inequalities and growing pressure on maternity staff and resources.
The Case for Change builds on this evidence. It sets out the need to focus on safety, improve access and choice for women and families and to ensure maternity services can meet women’s changing needs in the future. It also highlights differences in access and experience across Gloucestershire, with some groups facing greater barriers than others.
Shane Devlin, Chief Executive, NHS Gloucestershire ICB, said:
“Publishing the Maternity Health Needs Assessment and Case for Change is an important step in being open about the challenges facing maternity services in Gloucestershire and the evidence we need to respond to.
It gives us a clear, shared understanding of how needs are changing across the county and will guide how we work with partners, staff and communities to ensure maternity services remain safe, accessible and responsive in the future.”
Alongside this longer‑term work, there is a clear expectation that where temporarily closed maternity services can be safely reopened this should be pursued.
Some services, such as the Cheltenham Birth Unit and the Home Birth service, have been temporarily unavailable, limiting access and choice for parts of our population.
Over recent months, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been working with midwives and other maternity colleagues to develop proposals on ways to reinstate the services described above.
This work forms part of the Trust’s wider Community Maternity Transformation Programme, which is focused on restoring choice while ensuring services are safe, appropriately-staffed and able to meet the changing needs of women, babies and families across Gloucestershire, informed by the Maternity Health Needs Assessment and Case for Change.
NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) supports where possible, the reopening of services at the earliest opportunity, but in a way that fully reflects those considerations.
Additional information
The Maternity Health Needs Assessment and Case for Change are available on the maternity services webpage: https://www.nhsglos.nhs.uk/your-health-services/community-and-hospital-care/maternity-and-health-visiting/
The next phase of work includes engagement with women, families, staff and local partners later this summer and into early autumn, to help shape how maternity services could develop in the future.
More information about Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s Community Maternity Transformation Programme can be found on their website: https://www.gloshospitals.nhs.uk/our-services/services-we-offer/maternity/improving-our-maternity-services/