RADICAL plans to shake-up maternity services in Greater Manchester could be reversed – thanks to a baby boom, vocal campaigns and a change in government.

As shadow secretary for health Tory MP Andrew Lansley promised to save maternity care at Fairfield General, in Bury.

Now, as secretary of state for health, Mr Lansley has set out four tough tests the £100m shake-up must meet before any more units close.

Trafford is the only maternity unit to have already shut under the Making It Better scheme announced four years ago.

The maternity service at Fairfield hospital in Bury, which was due to close next year, has been given a reprieve while the new review is carried out.

And units in Salford Royal and Rochdale has also been given a second chance of remaining open.

Mr Lansley says no more closures will go ahead unless health trusts can demonstrate that there has been strong public engagement in the decision, support from GPs and good clinical evidence to support the changes. He also says any changes must increase patient choice.

The review comes after a huge surge in babies being born in the region – 4,000 more each year than in 2004.

Critics, including the Royal College of Midwives, said the original plans drastically underestimated the number of births and the streamlined service would not be able to cope.

Experts did not predict this increase when they were planning the shake-up – but the review team insist they have built flexibility into their plans and can cope with the extra babies.

Senior doctors, who are advising the review, say there are not enough doctors to safely maintain 11 separate units across Greater Manchester.

They say their plans will stop expert care being spread too thinly and provide the best facilities.

The whole review has been thrown into the air just as a new set of figures are released showing the case for change.

Maternity units across Greater Manchester were last year forced to turn away expectant women the equivalent of four times a week – usually because staff were too busy.

The problem has got worse since it was first revealed by the M.E.N. in 2007, when mothers-to-be were diverted away from their hospital of choice to other units three times a week.

Senior doctors say they hope concentrating services on just eight sites will prevent these diversions and early figures for this year suggest there have been fewer diverts since Trafford General closed in February.

And the M.E.N has also seen figures showing how far short of meeting staffing guidelines the region’s maternity units are.

Some would need to double the time consultants spend on the wards – adding around 20 hours a week to their workloads – to meet Royal College of Obstetricians staffing guidelines. One unit would need to find an extra 94 hours each week.

Mike Maresh, clinical advisor for Greater Manchester Children’s, Young People and Families Network, said: "Mums should have their baby at their planned hospital, and the

Making It Better changes will help make sure this happens.

"We are confident that having fewer, bigger, maternity units will resolve the problem of diversions by concentrating staff and expertise."

But campaigners are not convinced by the arguments.

Sharron Entwistle, from campaign group Fairfield Baby Lifeline, organised a petition to keep the unit, which has been backed by 50,000 local people.

She said: "We would like care closer to home. This would make it safer for all concerned.

"It would be unfair to make people travel long journeys to visit their babes on special care and would also help with bonding if the unit was closer to home.

"The birth rate has increased faster than expected, therefore, the facts have changed and we can now justify the existence of our unit."

The Making It Better team have said the planned network of eight units will have capacity for more than 41,000 births a year when it is complete.

The case for local units:

A YOUNG mum who had to make a treacherous 13-mile journey with her new baby on icy roads wants maternity units kept close to homes.

Deborah Price, 34, a student, had her baby James Brayshaw at Bury’s Fairfield Hospital, but had to take him to Oldham for a minor operation a few days later.

It took her partner Mark Brayshaw two hours to drive the family to hospital.

The experience has left them convinced it is essential to retain full maternity care in Bury – rather than travel to North Manchester or Bolton as expected after the planned shake-up.

Deborah, from Walmersley Road, Bury, said: "James’ birth was very straightforward and we had great care but the trip to Oldham was a nightmare.

"If the Bury unit had already closed and I’d had to travel elsewhere in those hazardous weather conditions, which nobody can fully predict, it would have been unsafe, and in a worst case scenario potentially endangered my life and that of my unborn baby.

"Imagine the distress this would cause if I was to make this journey in labour.

"As it happens, we did have to travel to Royal Oldham Hospital, one week after my baby was born – we skidded on the ice a number of times and on one occasion did a 360 degree skid in the middle of the road."

Benefits of keeping existing units open:

• Units closer to all families
• Shorter travelling time to hospital before giving birth
• Family and friends able to visit more easily

The case against local units:

EMMA Treen’s nightmare experience of giving birth in a busy hospital has made her a strong supporter of the planned changes to Greater Manchester’s maternity care.

Her son Oliver, now six months old, was born at Fairfield Hospital in Bury, four days after she was admitted to the wards.

She says the emergency surgical birth was repeatedly delayed by staff who were struggling to cope with too many patients.

Since the birth Emma says she suffered a series of infections and has needed extra surgery.

The 26-year-old who lives with husband Mark, 30, in Tottington, Bury, said: "I automatically went to Bury because it was my local unit, all my friends, my cousins, everyone seems to swear by it but I had a horrendous experience.

"I had a difficult pregnancy so I was anxious when I went to hospital and the staff were very busy. I felt I was just another person giving birth there.

"My experience was a nightmare. In future I would always want to be at a bigger maternity unit. I think there needs to be a lot more training and the service needs to improve."

Benefits of moving to eight units:

• Enough doctors and nurses at all sites to provide a higher quality care to everyone
• Senior staff with more experience providing cover for more hours
• Improved new facilities

The expert view:

THE region’s top doctors insist the clinical case for the reconfiguration of maternity services is compelling.

Mike Maresh, clinical advisor to the review teams, said: "I would like all women to have a top maternity hospital on their doorstep.

"It is unfortunate we cannot all have that so we must find the best solution available to us.

"There is no secret that the decision relating to the unit at Bury was the hardest and that is mainly because of its geography, because of the travelling distance."

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