Pontefract Hospital maternity unit set to be permanently closed

The town’s birthing facility was shut down on a temporary basis in 2019 due to a shortage of midwives.

Health chiefs are now being asked to agree to the permanent closure of Friarwood Birth Centre.

A document recommending the closure says the number of women choosing to give birth at the centre was lower than expected.

It says: “We cannot justify deployment of midwives to cover the low number of births at Pontefract as we do not have enough midwives to safely staff three sites and community services.”

If approved, maternity provision will continue to be prioritised at Pinderfields Hospital, in Wakefield.

Members of the Wakefield District Health and Care Partnership (WDHCP) committee are due to decide on the proposal at a meeting on January 9.

The decision was previously taken to temporarily suspend births at Pontefract “on the grounds of clinical safety”.

It allowed midwives to be deployed at centres where there were there were a higher number of births.

Before the suspension, around 200 women a year give birth at Pontefract.

Midwife numbers in the district have increased following a recruitment drive.

But a report says a formal decision on permanent closure needs to be taken to meet national maternity standards and to allow for long-term planning.

It would mean there would be no facility for births at Pontefract.

A full range of ante-natal and post-natal care would retained at the hospital.

Women will still have the choice of giving birth at home, based on clinical assessment.

The report says a “significantly higher” number of women chose maternity facilities at Pinderfields.

It adds: “The proposal reflects feedback from engagement that people want safe staffing levels.

“Safer staffing levels will be achieved across the whole service as staff are not being stretched.”

At the time of the temporary closure, NHS bosses said they initially pledged to reopen the unit at the end of September 2020.

A decision was then taken to keep the facility shut to allow hospital staff to focus on takling the covid pandemic.