Hospital bucks trend on shortages

THE Royal Oldham Hospital is bucking the national trend by having a full team of maternity consultants.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists claimed hospitals did not have enough consultants to deliver babies safely around the clock and look after women during childbirth because of a rising birth rate combined with a national shortage of around 500 consultants.

It said the ideal was a consultant on virtually every maternity unit day and night and warned lives could be put at risk unless consultants were prepared to provide out-of-hours cover.

A spokesman for the Pennine Acute Trust said: “The Royal Oldham Hospital has a full complement of obstetricians and gynaecologists — we currently employ seven consultants at the maternity unit.

“The maternity unit at The Royal Oldham provides an excellent service for new mothers and together with the Neo-Natal Unit and the efforts of Val Finigan MBE to promote breast-feeding; we believe the Royal Oldham Hospital provides a service the people of Oldham can be proud of.”