Council wants assurances from NHS as Royal Free maternity ward axed

Camden Council has called for the NHS to offer assurances to residents following the “difficult” decision to close a local hospital’s maternity ward.

On Wednesday (25 March), the North Central London Integrated Care Board (NCL ICB) confirmed it would axe the maternity and neonatal unit at Hampstead’s Royal Free – one of the capital’s largest hospitals.

Cllr Anna Wright, the borough’s health and social care chief, said the council “recognises the decision has been a difficult one and has caused concern among some Camden residents”.

Speaking to the Citizen, Cllr Wright said the Town Hall had “engaged actively” with the ICB during the consultation period and took “every opportunity” to make sure NHS bosses understood its potential impacts –  including for marginalised groups.

The final decision comes after plans were first mooted by the ICB in 2021, amid declining birth rates in the capital, stretched staffing and lower demand for services.

This had prompted the board’s proposal to reduce the number of maternity units in north central London from five to four.

Last week, the ICB published its ‘business case’ for the closure, which included statistics showing birth rates had fallen 14 per cent year on year since 2018.

The papers also state that the number of admissions to the Royal Free’s neonatal unit had fallen by four per cent in the same period, leaving half (51 per cent) of the ward’s cots empty on any given day.

Yesterday, the board’s chief medical officer, Dr Jo Sauvage, told the BBC that she “completely understood” concerns in the community over the decision, and said it was “not taken lightly”.

She clarified that demand and the nature of care had changed, partly due to falling childbirth rates but also because more people were waiting longer to have babies.

The number of premature births had also risen, she said, while comorbidities before or during pregnancy had also grown more complicated.

On the ICB’s YouTube channel, she sought to assure people that services would continue “exactly as they are” for the time being, and that no-one should make any sudden changes to their appointments.

Camden residents will still be served by the maternity ward at Fitzrovia’s University College Hospital London (UCLH).

This follows last year’s public consultation on the plans, which saw more than 3,000 people participate.

A majority of survey respondents said they believed the Royal Free’s unit should shut down, as opposed to Islington’s Whittington hospital – the alternative option floated by the NHS.

The ICB this week confirmed that it would recommend that Whittington’s maternity unit stays open.

Hampstead and Highgate MP Tulip Siddiq had campaigned against the move to close the “much-loved” unit where her son was born.

Writing in the Ham & High yesterday, she warned that “the most marginalised parents in my constituency will be put at risk” by the loss of specialist “life-saving” services from the unit.

Ms Siddiq said she would continue to stand against the ICB’s decision.

Cllr Wright pledged to ensure Camden residents continue to have a voice in how any changes to maternity services in the borough are carried out.

“We are committed to continuing the conversation with the NHS ICB to ensure that Camden can benefit from excellent maternity services that meet the different needs of our communities.”