Forum warns of maternity 'crisis'

Maternity services in Leicester are in crisis, according to one of the heads of a patients' forum.

It follows the revelation that in six months four patients had to be sent elsewhere to give birth because the city's two labour wards were full.

Leicester LINk said not enough staff were employed on the wards.

But a spokeswoman for the University Hospitals NHS Trust said there had been 5,250 births this year and only four women had had to go out of the city.

Zuffar Haq, co-chairman of the forum, said the hospitals and primary care trusts were in denial about the state of maternity services in Leicester.

'Not enough staff'

"They have a serious crisis on their hands.

"The level of staff isn't enough. The staff who are there are absolutely brilliant - doctors, nurses and auxiliary staff. But there's just not enough of them.

"The infrastructure that they have - beds, buildings - isn't good enough and isn't up to the standards required."

Jane Porter, head of nursing and midwifery at the trust, said women usually gave birth in the Leicester Royal Infirmary or Leicester General but there were times when there were too many women in labour.

"For the last two years the birth rate has been steady at 10,500 deliveries a year. We do normally have the capacity to deal with the amount of women we have."

She said patients were transferred out of Leicester only to ensure they and their babies were safe.