The maternity unit at our local hospital in Kew is still closed and, indeed, it may never reopen, as the service is currently being operated from Ormskirk. So Southport no longer has even a Midwife Led Unit (MLU) in spite of having over 120,000 of a population in our immediate catchment area.
At a recent CARES meeting a keen demand was still expressed for the return of our full hospital services. Richard Hallett was introduced as the major campaigner for the creation of a successful MLU in his home town of Crowborough, which is now called the town’s ‘Birthing Centre’ and, ‘by Jove’, he has pulled it off. Under his expert business guidance Richard and his intrepid team managed to persuade their Primary Care Trust hospital authority to set up the Crowborough Birthing Centre and give it an extended 2 year trial period.
The results have been quite dramatic with the number of mums-to-be using the unit to have their babies quickly rising from 52 to over 326 per year since the unit’s conception. The enclosed brochure layout depicting expertise publicity gives Southport’s residents a good idea of how a local MLU could be not only successful in the town but also could even be more cost effective for the NHS by greatly reducing the cost per birth. Parents wishing to have their children safely born in their own home town will gain much comfort and reassurance from a close study of the Crowborough experience.
Right from the start, when over 3,000 local residents marched in protest just over 2 years ago about the transfer of certain hospital services to Ormskirk, our Party has supported the CARES campaign for their eventual return to Southport. We believe that the Richard Hallett formula paves a way for producing a very successful MLU back to our local hospital. The creation of a similar local facility could be the initial driving force behind our campaign target, given the will and determination of all CARES supporters and the serious need to nurture the right for any child to be born and brought up in their own home town.