Antenatal services coming together from September
From September 2022, University Hospital Dorset (UHD) will be moving all its antenatal services to Poole Hospital as part of its plans to develop a combined maternity service.
Currently maternity services run across both the Royal Bournemouth and Poole hospital sites, with women travelling across hospitals for different appointments during their pregnancy. In 2024 a combined maternity service will operate on the Royal Bournemouth site in the new BEACH Building (representing Births, Emergency care, And, Critical care and child Health), but until that time, all antenatal appointments and in-hospital birthing options will be run from the Poole site.
Commenting on the plans, Kerry Taylor, UHD’s head of midwifery, said:
“Bringing services together on one site will provide improved access to care on one site, with all of the antenatal team on hand to support women throughout their pregnancy.
“Mothers-to-be will have the opportunity to give birth to their child on the same site they have been visiting throughout their pregnancy.
“With all antenatal staff working together as one team, there will be more staff to support antenatal services, greater consultant and midwife supervision and combined training.
“Our team look forward to welcoming women to the Poole maternity unit in September 2022 with mothers-to-be receiving any appropriate clinic alteration letters in the near future.”
The antenatal team will be offering offer telephone and virtual appointments to those patients who do not wish to, or are unable to, travel to the Poole site. Patients requiring examinations from their clinical teams, scans or blood tests, will be required to attend antenatal appointments at the Poole maternity site.
Commenting on the development of maternity services, Mr Alex Taylor, clinical director for womens' health, added:
“This is an exciting time for UHD as we start the major transformation programme which will refurbish, modernise and develop our sites so that they are fit-for-purpose for their longer-term future.
“Patients and staff alike will benefit from these investments which will provide much more space and a better working environment and will form a key part of a major transformation and development programme for healthcare in the region.
“The maternity service at UHD is committed to providing a safe and equal service to all women and we are grateful for their understanding during this transition period.“
The new BEACH Building is due to open from 2024, with the facility housing a new maternity unit, co-located and aligned to all services to support pregnancy and birth.
Photo caption: Maternity and antenatal team together with a colleague from NHS blood bike service.
