Royal Free Hampstead maternity closure: 'Last chance to save services supporting vulnerable women' says MP

North London families have just days left to have their say on proposals to close hospital maternity services.

A consultation is under way on proposals which could see services axed at either the Royal Free, in Hampstead, or the Whittington, in Islington. The former is listed as the care board's "preferred option" by the care board, which says it is "consulting with an open mind".

With the deadline for comments this Sunday (March 17), Hampstead and Kilburn's Labour MP, Tulip Siddiq, said this is “the last chance to save these vital services which support the most vulnerable women”.

Ms Siddiq had both her children at the Royal Free and on Friday joined a protest at the hospital.

She said: “Losing the Royal Free’s invaluable maternity unit would be devastating for our community, and it could leave women without access to the life-saving services that this brilliant hospital provides. I fear that this reduction in services will be felt most sharply by pregnant women and mothers from the most marginalised backgrounds and will result in an increase in health inequalities.

“We must ensure that these voices are not ignored. With the consultation closing this week, now could be the last chance to make sure your views are heard before it’s too late and save these vital services which support the most vulnerable women. I’d encourage anyone who shares my love for the Royal Free to sign the petition to save its maternity unit and make a submission to the consultation.”

She is calling on people to sign a petition to save the unit, as well as to make submissions to the North Central London Integrated Care Board's consultation.

Islington North independent MP Jeremy Corbyn previously spoke out in support of retaining services at the Whittington Hospital.

The NHS's North Central London Integrated Care Board said in a statement this week: "North Central London is seeing fewer births each year and increasingly complex care needs by people using maternity and neonatal services. We also face high numbers of vacancies in some clinical groups, which mean we are not always able to achieve the best practice standards that we would want to deliver for our residents. Frontline NHS staff work incredibly hard to provide the best possible services, however our services are not always set up in the right way.

"Our proposals aim to improve access, experience and outcomes for pregnant women and people and their babies and would include a significant additional investment in maternity and neonatal services to ensure that all services meet modern standards. The proposals being consulted on include a reduction in the number of maternity and neonatal services in NCL from five to four and the possible closure of the birthing suites at the Edgware Birth Centre.

"We believe these changes would create more resilient services, with midwife- and obstetrics-led units co-located with neonatal units all able to look after premature or unwell babies. Homebirths will continue to be offered in all our boroughs. Our proposals will require significant investment, which we are committed to, to ensure all services meet modern standards and can deliver high quality care to all patients."

It said too many children are waiting too long for surgical care and are being transferred multiple times.

"The proposals being consulted on include creating two ‘centres of expertise’ at Great Ormond Street Hospital and UCLH which would mean quicker and better quality of care for babies and small children who need operations," it said.

"North Central London Integrated Care Board and NHS England (London) Specialised Commissioning are consulting with an open mind. No decision has been made yet and it would be some years before any of the proposed changes are implemented. Until then all services are running as normal."