People in north east London are being asked for their views on NHS maternity services and care for newborn babies to ensure they meet the changing needs of local communities.
Since early this year, doctors have been considering information from families, NHS staff and community representatives to understand what type of care and support might be needed for parents and babies across north east London in the future, and how this can be best delivered.
A key part of this is making sure that local maternity and neonatal services (the care of newborn babies) can meet the needs and demands of the growing number of people who live in the area, and address the challenges posed by health inequalities.
NHS North East London has published a report – Best Start in Life: The Case for Change – outlining how services work now, how it expects local needs to change, and identifying areas where there may be opportunities to do things better or differently in the future. It does not propose any solutions and no decisions have been made about the services.
Chineze Otigbah, Consultant Obstetrician at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust and Chair of the North East London Local Maternity and Neonatal System, said: “It’s clear from our report that our maternity and neonatal services across north east London face a number of challenges and if we continue doing what we’re currently doing, we won’t have enough capacity available in the places where care needs to be delivered in the future.
“This tells us we need to make some changes and there are opportunities to make sure our services remain safe, high quality and accessible for all, while meeting growing demand.
“To help us make these changes, we want to hear your views on what we have found in our Case for Change – do our findings reflect your own experiences and are we focusing on what matters most to you? Let us know by completing our survey.
“We’ll continue to involve local women and people, their families, staff, and stakeholders to help us shape our services to ensure they provide the best care possible to those who need it.”
The report’s key findings include:
- The birth rate is increasing in north east London and the number of babies born here will continue to rise as the local population grows.
- Women and people are having more complicated pregnancies and births, so there is rising demand in north east London for the right hospital-based care. This will continue to grow.
- Neonatal beds in north east London, with specialist care for newborn babies, are often full and this makes delivering care in the right place and at the right time challenging.
- Inequalities across different population groups and communities in north east London can have an impact on a woman or person’s health during pregnancy and affect newborn babies.
- Workforce challenges and other factors mean some women and people have different options and experiences of birth depending on where they choose to have their baby.
- Our staff are hard-working, resilient and working together to provide safe care, but they are under huge pressure, with more women and people needing intensive clinical support, and we need a workforce and model of care that fits this demand.
Find out more and have your say by 8 September 2024
We want people living in Barking and Dagenham, City of London, Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest to tell us what they think of our report’s findings. The views received will help shape future plans and services.
You can find more information on NHS North East London’s website, www.northeastlondon.icb.nhs.uk/maternity-neonatal-review, including the Case for Change report and a summary of its findings.
Please fill in our online survey on our website by 11.59pm on 8 September 2024 or come to our public information event on Tuesday 3 September, 6-7.30pm . Details of how to sign-up to the event are on dedicated webpage: www.northeastlondon.icb.nhs.uk/maternity-neonatal-review
