Christchurch's St George's Hospital maternity unit to close after contract talks fall through

Christchurch's St George's Hospital maternity unit is closing in June, at the end of its contract with Te Whatu Ora.

Rata Midwives organised a petition backed by 30,000 people to try to stop the centre from closing last year.

Hospital chief executive Blair Roxborough said it had not been able to agree to a contract extension with the health agency.

"Today we have advised our maternity staff and the Midwives Union MERAS that we are sadly closing our maternity centre and disestablishing all maternity related roles."

The nationwide midwife shortage had meant the hospital had struggled to maintain consistent, safe staffing levels, Roxborough said.

"The national shortage of midwives leaves us very confident that all our staff will find new roles."

Te Whatu Ora hospital and specialist services national director Fionnagh Dougan acknowledged staffing levels and workforce constraints meant the service was not sustainable.

MERAS co-leader Jill Ovens also recognised the unit's critical staffing levels over the past few years, which she said had restricted the number of beds available and resulted in women being turned away.

"St George's maternity hasn't been providing a reliable service because of workforce pressures. There needs to be two midwives on each shift to be fully staffed and that has been a challenge."

While more than 6000 babies are born in Canterbury each year, only 10 births and 34 postnatal transfers on average each month have been taking place at the hospital's unit recently, according to Te Whatu Ora.

Most births and postnatal stays had been cared for at Te Whatu Ora's maternity service, Dougan said.

MERAS also said occupancy in the St George's Hospital maternity unit had reportedly dropped 41 percent in the past 12 months.

"Perhaps because of a lack of surety around beds being available, midwives have not been bringing women to St George's to birth," Ovens said.

Alternatives distant from communities - midwives' union

But she said news of the unit's closure was sad and it would have been ideal to keep it open until Te Whatu Ora's new central city primary birthing unit was open, which was expected to be late this year.

St George's currently provided the only primary birthing unit in Christchurch, with the nearest alternative half an hour away, by car, Ovens said.

"There are other options but for Christchurch-based families, they are away from their community which is not ideal for women or midwives."

Ovens believed neither the hospital nor Te Whatu Ora should be blamed for the decision made on Monday, saying it was a result of ongoing workforce stresses combined with the slow recognition of midwives' skills and value.

"The issues are more broadly entrenched across the maternity and health sector, and Aotearoa is reaping what has been sown.

"Had those who can make the difference been courageous enough to sort multiple issues out when they were first apparent a decade ago, I don't think we would be in the challenging situation we are now."

'We're reeling from this decision'

Rata Midwives midwife Sheena Ross told Checkpoint she and others who had signed the petition were "incredibly sad" and "disappointed" that the hospital felt it could not heed what the community wanted.

"We're still reeling, we're reeling from this decision. There's going to be a lot of women and a lot of babies that are going to have their choices removed.

"So initially, there's going to be less choice of where they have their babies, so we had beautiful [water] births at St George's ... and they're going to have less choice for their post-natal care, which is incredibly important when you've first had a baby."

Christchurch Women's Hospital was doing its best to provide the same support, but there was not going to be enough beds and space, Ross said.

"Those women are going to be going home earlier, they're going to be taking their babies back to their homes without the support that they need. So there's going to be a big impact in the community."

Every aspect of maternity care was being affected by the shortage of staff but this decision was only going to add pressure on the system, Ross said.

"Women having their choices, women getting breastfeeding support, all of that actually relieves the pressure, it doesn't add the pressure to midwives.

"When you have those beautiful water births [at St George's maternity unit], that actually helps the whole system and it means that midwives are more satisfied, they're happier and it's good for midwives but it's even better for whānau."

Ross acknolwedged the complex issues behind staff shortages but said: "I think in terms of St George's, I think it's also being used as an excuse."

Other options

The hospital was still open to providing other maternity related services as per its philanthropic charter and would be exploring its options, Roxborough said.

"We continue to support the Rotary Breast Milk Bank by providing it with a home at the hospital, free of charge."

But Sheena Ross from Rata Midwives said it was not clear what those options or services would entail.

Roxborough thanked all the midwives and clinicians who had helped deliver babies there over more than 90 years.

"We also want to thank whānau who have chosen to give birth at St George's - we know that St George's Maternity has been a special place for so many people."

Dougan also thanked the hospital's maternity unit for their service to the community.

"We hold a strong and valued relationship with the team at St George's Hospital and we look forward to continuing our partnership through their provision of some hospital and specialist services in the Canterbury region.

"We want to reassure whānau expecting the arrival of a baby in Christchurch that they will always receive the care and support that they need at this special time in their lives, whether that is through our primary birthing units in Rolleston and Rangiora or Christchurch Women's Hospital."

The new Oromairaki Maternity Unit at the Toka Hāpai (Selwyn Health Hub) opened last year.

Te Whatu Ora's new central city primary birthing unit (Kurawaka: Waipapa) is set to be more than double the size of the St George's unit, with four birthing rooms, 20 post-natal rooms, two whānau rooms, an education room and six assessment rooms.