The Trust has taken this difficult decision to ensure it has the appropriate staffing and resources available to ensure that both mum and baby have the safest and best possible birthing experience. The move will also free up essential staff, such as anaesthetists, to support critically ill patients treated at Bassetlaw Hospital. When the service reopens in November, the Trust anticipates it will benefit from a number of newly recruited and qualified midwives who are expected to join the team at Bassetlaw.
All affected parents have been contacted ahead of time while antenatal and community services will continue as normal and have not moved. Due to the relocation of this particular speciality, the Trust is asking mothers-to-be to call their midwife if they have any concerns related to their pregnancy or for urgent care call Maternity Triage on 01302 642711 (press option one for Triage).
David Purdue, Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals and Deputy Chief Executive, said: “Until 1 November, Bassetlaw Hospital’s inpatient maternity and midwifery services will be provided at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital on the Doncaster Royal Infirmary site.
“We have taken these steps, with the support of NHS Bassetlaw Clinical Commissioning Group, to ensure that we can continue to offer a safe and effective service for our community, whilst we create extra provision and contingencies to ensure we have the appropriate cover in case any of our midwives and related colleagues are affected by Covid-19.
“As an organisation we apologise for any inconvenience, but our local communities will appreciate the extraordinary circumstances we are currently operating under. The safety of our patients is of the utmost importance and these measures have been taken with this in mind. Services will return on 1 November 2020 when we will also welcome new Midwives to our team.”
In order to help parents-to-be keep up touch, the Trust has recently launched the ‘Doncaster and Bassetlaw Maternity Services’ Facebook page, which is overseen by midwives during ordinary working hours. With over 2,000 likes, the network and proven to be a great success and can be accessed by heading to: https://www.facebook.com/DBTHMaternity/