The head of midwifery at Nottingham hospitals admits some parents are choosing to have their babies elsewhere due to an ongoing review into its maternity services. However, Ruth Brown, who is working in the role on an interim basis at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), said the trust was already seeing improvements in its departments.
The maternity units at Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital are currently subject to an independent review, led by Donna Ockenden, following cases of preventable baby deaths and harm. More than 1,400 families and staff have so far contacted the probe.
As a result of the review, which is likely to become the largest of its kind in NHS history, Ms Brown said evidence suggested some parents were choosing to have their babies elsewhere. "A number of women that access our service that are from borders areas, such as people who are equidistant between us and Derby, Sherwood Forest or Leicester, we have noticed a small number of women who have chosen others," she told Nottinghamshire Live on a visit to the maternity unit at City Hospital.
