Jeremy Hunt’s midwife crisis: More than half of maternity units close doors to new mothers

Jeremy Hunt is still the Health Secretary. Do not become ill.

This is not a failure by the NHS. It is a failure of the NHS, by the minority Conservative government.

The Tories have cut taxes for corporations, and they have cut taxes for the rich. They have cut services for the poor and they have sold off huge chunks of the English NHS to their rich corporate friends. And the national debt continues to rise out of control, because all the money is going into private bank accounts.

That is why new parents are being denied the health care they need: Greed.

Here’s Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth explaining the situation:

More bad news re our #NHS Hunt has to go! The choice is clear the Tories or the NHS, it's obvious we can't have both pic.twitter.com/DBkyLoxlgF

— andyPsearson 🌹 (@andysearson) August 8, 2017

And here‘s Labour’s press release, covering it in more detail:

New research published today by the Labour Party shows that nearly half of England’s maternity units closed to new mothers at some point in 2016.

Data obtained by Labour under the Freedom of Information Act shows:

·         42 hospital trusts which responded to an FOI request say they temporarily closed maternity wards to new admissions at some point in 2016

·         Some closures lasted more than 24 hours, while over ten trusts shut temporarily on more than ten separate occasions each

·         In 2016 there were 382 occasions when units had to close their doors, a 70 per cent increase from 2014

·         Hospitals report capacity and staffing issues as most common reason for closures

Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Health, said:

“These findings show the devastating impact which Tory underfunding is having for mothers and children across the country. It is staggering that almost half of maternity units in England had to close to new mothers at some point in 2016. The uncertainty for so many women just when they need the NHS most is unthinkable.

“Under this Government, maternity units are understaffed and under pressure. It’s shameful that pregnant women are being turned away due to staff shortages, and shortages of beds and cots in maternity units.

“Families are being sorely let down by this Government’s failure to recognise the crisis facing our NHS. The Tories need to get a grip and take urgent action to make sure closures like this don’t continue to happen.”

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