Just 45 mothers gave birth at the unit within Edgware Community Hospital in 2021/22

The entrance sign outside Edgware Community Hospital in Burnt Oak — Edgware Community Hospital

Pregnant women may no longer be given the option of giving birth at Edgware Community Hospital if a proposed shake-up of NHS maternity services in North London goes ahead.

Because of declining birth rates, NHS bosses are proposing to “align services with the changing needs of the community”.

The NHS North Central London Integrated Care Board (NCL ICB) wants to close Edgware Birth Centre in Burnt Oak Broadway after a sharp decline in the number of mothers giving birth there since 2017 – with just 45 using it in 2021/22.

NCL ICB, which is responsible for commissioning health services across Barnet, Enfield, Haringey, Camden and Islington, is also proposing to close the maternity units at either Royal Free Hospital in Camden or Whittington Hospital in Islington – but the unit at Barnet Hospital is being kept, meaning women will still be able to give birth in the borough via the NHS.

Maternity units at North Middlesex Hospital in Edmonton and University College London Hospitals in Euston will also be retained.

Only around 30% of pregnant people across the NCL area are deemed “clinically appropriate” to give birth at Edgware currently, because there is said to be not enough specialist staff to support the unit alongside other midwifery-led units, which “sometimes leads to short term closures of the service”.

However, ante-natal and post-natal services are proposed to remain open at Edgware Community Hospital.

All the proposed options are subject to public consultation and further decision-making by NCL ICB. A final decision is expected to be made over the autumn or winter of next year (2024/25), and implementation would need to be “planned carefully before any changes are made”.

In the meantime, there will be no changes to patient care or for staff working to deliver these services at present.

The maternity shake-up is part of a wider programme, dubbed ‘Start Well’, which “aims to improve the quality and safety of care for pregnant women and people, reduce inequalities in outcomes and give every child the best start in life”.

Clinicians including doctors, midwives and other healthcare professionals have led the design of the proposed options for maternity care in North London over the past two years, with input from parents, patients and families. These have been jointly developed with NHS England Specialised Commissioning.

Jo Sauvage, chief medical officer for NCL ICB, said: “While NHS frontline staff work incredibly hard to deliver good quality maternity, neonatal and paediatric surgical care, services aren’t currently set up in the best way to meet the changing needs of local people.

“Fewer babies are being born in North Central London and more complex care is often needed during pregnancy and birth, and we need to adapt our services to that. Our goal is to align services with the changing needs of the community and continually evolving best practice”.

Subject to board approval in the first week of December, the proposed options will go out to a 14-week public consultation from Monday, 11^th December, with views of patients, staff and the public being sought.

Jo added: “We firmly believe every baby and child should have the best start in life. Good foundations in pregnancy and birth have a big influence on life chances and support reducing inequalities. So it is important that pregnant women and people have a positive birth experience and we ensure that everyone has access to the same high quality services no matter where they live or choose to have their baby.”

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