Southern Trust Board confirms inpatient maternity services to move from Daisy Hill in Newry to Craigavon
The Southern Trust Board has confirmed that births inpatient maternity services will be moved from Daisy Hill Hospital to Craigavon Area Hospital from 23 November - and that up to five additional consultants would be required to halt the changes,
The trust says the move was approved at a public Trust Board meeting today, Tuesday 3 November.
It says the move is temporary, while efforts continue to recruit consultant obstetricians, however critics fear that the changes could become permanent.
Local campaigners have been pressing the Southern Health Trust for a prolonged period to recruit more obstetricians to keep the Newry service open but the trust, and Minister Robbie Butler, say that despite national and international trawls for more staff, this has not been possible.
Political representatives from South Down report fear among expectant mothers in light of the required two-hour journey to access services when they might need them urgently during their pregnancies.
They also express scepticism that Craigavon can absorb more than 1000 extra births per year from mothers in South Down and South Armagh, as it is already working to capacity.
However Trust Chief Executive Steve Spoerry confirmed today that the move would still go ahead.
“Despite extensive efforts across the regional Health and Social Care system, we have not been able to secure the consultant obstetric workforce needed to safely maintain inpatient maternity services at Daisy Hill Hospital and renew the current rota," he said.
“The Trust Board has therefore agreed that births and inpatient maternity care will temporarily consolidate at Craigavon Area Hospital from Monday 23 November 2026, in order to protect the safety of women and babies.”
The trust says the service has been under significant workforce pressure following the retirement and resignation of several consultant obstetricians.
Despite sustained national and international recruitment efforts, the Trust says it has been unable to fill the vacancies, which it says reflects a wider shortage across Northern Ireland and the UK.
Up to five additional permanent consultants are required to provide a safe and sustainable service at Daisy Hill Hospital, the trust added.
The Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RCOG) recently told the News Letter that the shortage of obstetricians impacting in Newry is not a local issue - “but impacting maternity services across the UK”.
It recently raised concerns about proposals to close a further 20 smaller maternity units in more rural areas of England due to similar staffing shortages,
In a joint statement DUP MLAs Diane Dodds, Diane Forsythe and Gareth Wilson said there are now only two full-time permanent consultants, supported by three locums, at Daisy Hill.
"The Trust confirmed today that those permanent consultants have raised concerns about working without adequate peer support," they said.
"Craigavon Area Hospital will now be expected to handle almost a quarter of all births in Northern Ireland, while operating with only eight of the 12 consultants it needs to run its current service. That raises serious questions about capacity, resilience and patient safety.”
The Trust must now set out a clear timeline for restoring maternity services to Daisy Hill, they added.
Alliance Health Spokesperson Danny Donnelly MLA said his party said previously that this situation has come about due to a lack of long-term workforce planning and successive Health Ministers' failure to take it seriously.
" The implementation of the Renfrew Maternity Review, published nearly two years ago, would have helped avoid services being put into this position,” he said. “That we are here now is a clear failure for women."
• Maternity staff are contacting women who are due to give birth at Daisy Hill on or after 23 November. Anyone who has concerns can call 028 3756 1325.