{"id":71819,"date":"2026-10-20T12:25:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T11:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/?p=71819"},"modified":"2026-10-20T12:28:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T11:28:59","slug":"councillors-request-guarantee-long-term-future-of-north-devons-maternity-unit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/councillors-request-guarantee-long-term-future-of-north-devons-maternity-unit\/","title":{"rendered":"Councillors request guarantee on long term future of North Devon’s maternity unit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

County leaders today demanded Health Secretary Yvette Cooper publicly declare North Devon\u2019s maternity unit will be reopened and kept open after a key body recommended permanently closing 20 difficult-to-staff units across the UK.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Childbirth services should be centralised into fewer hospitals and those units delivering less than 2,000 births a year mostly in rural and coastal areas such as Barnstaple must be shut according to Matthew Hopkins, Director of Acute Care for the NHS Alliance, which represents NHS Trusts nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barnstaple\u2019s maternity unit has been closed since August 11 due to a staff shortage and 194 mothers from across North Devon have had to travel for up to two hours to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital to give birth.<\/p>\n\n\n

\r\n\t
\r\n

County Councillor Jess Bailey, Chair of Devon County Council\u2019s Health Scrutiny Committee said: <\/p><\/div>\r\n \t\t

\u201cI am appalled that closing smaller units including Barnstaple is now on the agenda being put forward by NHS bosses.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt our special meeting in North Devon last month, we heard first hand the terrible impact on women having to travel substantial distances due to the suspension of maternity services in Barnstaple since August.<\/p>\n

\u201cClosing units entirely is not the answer to staffing difficulties, proper funding is the solution. Women have the right to give birth safely and close to where they live \u2013 whether that\u2019s in Devon or anywhere else.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am also totally unimpressed by the silence from the Health Secretary to our three letters requesting she steps in immediately to reopen the unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only does Yvette Cooper need to reopen the unit within days, she needs to assure thousands of women across North Devon it will stay open and be staffed properly for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\n\t
\r\n\t\t\"Councillor\r\n
\r\n Councillor Jess Bailey<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n <\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\n\n
\r\n\t
\r\n

Devon County Council Leader Julian Brazil said:<\/p><\/div>\r\n \t\t

\u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen happen in North Devon is down to bean counters setting health policy rather than responding to the needs of communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cA huge part of the reason why the NHS Trusts in North Devon and Exeter amalgamated was supposedly to solve problems like this by sharing staff. Consultants and doctors should be driving to Barnstaple not expectant mothers and their loved ones travelling up to two hours through this winter on some of our county\u2019s most dangerous roads.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s frankly lazy to say we just need to centralise and totally fails rural communities. The Prime Minister has talked of serving every postcode in the UK. He needs to make good on his words.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\n\t
\r\n\t\t\"Councillor\r\n
\r\n Councillor Julian Brazil, Leader of the Council<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n <\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\n\n\n

A major national report into the future of maternity services in the UK will be published in December.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":859,"featured_media":71470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2144],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-public-health"],"acf":[],"featured_image":{"ID":71470,"title":"Scrutiny meeting","alt":"Councillors at the Scrutiny meeting","description":"","caption":"Councillors listening to mothers at a Special Scrutiny meeting last 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