'Residents will be consulted on future of maternity units' (From Gazette & Herald)

'Residents will be consulted on future of maternity units'

LOCAL workshops will be held to consult with residents on the future of maternity services in Malton and along the east coast.

Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare NHS Trust are reviewing the service as part of a modernisation plan.

But residents are outraged at one of the proposals, which could see Malton maternity unit closed down and all services transferred to Scarborough.

Consultant obstetricians, practising midwives, members of the Community Health Council and social services representatives were among those who met at the first meeting of the maternity services strategy and modernisation board, which took place earlier this week.

Trust divisional director Lorraine Naylor, from the maternity board, said: "With this review of maternity services, we are looking at what services can safely be provided where, and how these can be organised so that they are cost-effective, and not diverting money from other, similarly important, services.

"We are well aware that we need to hear what the most important people of all, the people who actually use the service, want to say.

"That's anyone who is using local maternity services, or who may want to use these services in the future."

The workshops will give residents the opportunity to voice their concerns about the modernisation proposals, and help the trust plan how to meet patients' needs and make best use of the resources available, she added.

Norton resident Vicky Kewley, who helped organise a petition supporting Malton maternity unit, said: "I think the decision should go on what people think.

"The general feeling is that it should be kept open.

"People think the idea of closing Malton maternity is absolutely horrendous, that's been the comments made on the petition."

Mrs Kewley said around 6,000 signatures had now been collected, and would be delivered to the NHS trust through the workshops.

Dates and venues for the public meetings are yet to be announced, but anyone wanting to be informed on when and where workshops in their area will be held should write to the chairman of the maternity board, Dale Meegan, at Scarborough Hospital, Woodlands Drive, Scarborough YO12 6QL.

Updated: 13:48 Wednesday, April 02, 2003