Health chiefs coming to Welshpool

Health chiefs from Shropshire are to hold public meetings in Welshpool and Newtown to allow the public to have a say on the future of maternity services in Shrewsbury.

The news is a sign that health bosses are taking note of the concerns of Montgomeryshire residents and patients about possible changes to health services in Shropshire which will impact on them.

While the meeting will focus on the future of maternity services in Shropshire, where it is understood the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust wants to move maternity from the Royal SHrewsbury Hospital to the Princess Royal Hospital at Telford, it is understood more consultation could follow on other planned changes to A&E and stroke services in the neighbouring county.

The Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), which are led by local GPs. Healthwatch Shropshire and Healthwatch Telford and Wrekin are observing the review in Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin to ensure that it reflects the local needs of the population and is thorough.

Many women and families who live in the Powys area use maternity services in Shropshire. Both CCGs want to encourage these mums, mums-to-be and their families to take part in the review.

Bharti Patel-Smith of Shropshire CCG, who was a nurse and midwife for 17 years, said: “The birth of a child is always a life-changing event, and around 6,300 babies have been born in in Shropshire since 1st April 2012.

“The aim of the review is to identify as much recent experience of using our maternity services as possible. That will allow us to build up a very detailed picture, so we can identify the best services from a patient’s viewpoint and make them even better.”

The review is being backed by a dedicated Facebook page, an online survey, Twitter account and a number of public group discussions.

Public meetings will be held at The Elephant and Castle, Newtown between 1pm and 3pm on September 9 and at The Loft at Cambrian Training's offices, Coed-y-Dinas, between 6pm and 8pm on September 11.

Bharti said: “We recognise that many parents in the Powys area will use maternity services in Shropshire and it is important that they take part in the review as well. We have organised events in Powys, which we hope parents will come along to and share their experiences.

“Our ultimate aim is to ensure a high quality experience during and after pregnancy. There are many different ways of monitoring this, but there is absolutely no substitute for hearing about personal experiences.

“We often know when things have not gone well. But we believe we miss a lot of the positive experiences because parents are so overwhelmed by the emotion of having a new family member that they don’t tell us. This survey is a chance to catch that missing information.

“Although mums are the ones most immediately affected by maternity services we want to hear from anyone with relevant experience. That includes dads, wider family members, health groups and staff working within maternity services and the wider NHS.”

The Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire Maternity Services online survey runs until September 12.

To have your say visit www.shropshireccg.nhs.uk or www.telfordccg.nhs.uk  or search for NHS Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin Maternity Services Review on Facebook.