"refused to register me"

Thank you for your comments which have been passed on to our Delivery Suite Matron and the Clinical Lead for Maternity who advise that unfortunately we have had to cap our deliveries on safety grounds. The CQC inspection of late 2015 rated maternity services at the Trust as inadequate. This was due to a number of contributing factors - we have seen the effect of more mothers choosing to use Walsall to have their babies since the closure of maternity units at neighbouring Trusts. This has meant that it has been difficult to keep staffing levels in line with the increase in activity as the original unit was built for a lower number of births, the hospital has struggled to accommodate the births currently experienced. We want to ensure that patients receive the highest quality acre and we have taken a number of immediate actions to improve the service, these include recruiting more midwives, some work to the maternity estate and a £3million investment in the neonatal unit. However these changes will take some time to implement and embed. In order to stabilise the service we have worked with the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and other health partners in Sandwell to find short-term solutions. On of the changes is to book some expectant mothers into an alternative provider for their care. These changes have been in force since March 2016. As a Trust we are really sorry that you are affected by these changes and we hope that you will appreciate that the changes we have implemented are absolutely necessary to ensure the best outcomes for yourself, your baby and the sustainability of our Maternity Services. The telephone calls were to ensure that you were in receipt of appropriate care and I we are sorry upset caused. For the hospital to be able to make the changes necessary to improve the service we offer we cannot accept more births than we have agreed to take. It is appreciated that this is inconvenient and we recognise that some mothers will not be happy. If you do wish to discuss your circumstances with anyone please leave your details with the Patient Relations Team on route 102 at the hospital or via telephone on 01922 656463 and a senior member of the Maternity team will contact you back to discuss your specific circumstances.