Macclesfield maternity unit reopens

Macclesfield maternity unit – which was closed during the Covid-19 pandemic – is ready for births again after being refurbished and reopened.

East Cheshire NHS Trust suspended maternity services at Macclesfield District General Hospital in March 2020 and sent mothers-to-be to sites in Stockport, Manchester or Crewe instead.

Chief executive Ged Murphy said the reopening was “fantastic for families”.

Macclesfield MP David Rutley said it was a “vote of confidence” in the site.

Services were suspended for an initial six months in March 2020, but the trust then decided not to resume births on the site as the hospital would not be able to provide anaesthetist cover for both maternity-related procedures and expected numbers of Covid patients.

While the unit was closed, its midwives either worked at one of the three other hospitals or in the community, serving women who chose a home birth.

Mr Murphy said the hospital had now met the “robust safety criteria required” to reopen, which was “fantastic for families, who access our maternity services, and our midwifery and obstetric staff, who have been working at host sites”.

Mr Rutley, the Conservative member for Macclesfield, said the reopening was a “real vote of confidence” in the hospital’s “sustainable future”.

He said he had worked with NHS leaders to raise concerns with ministers about reopening the unit and it was “now great to see that local families will, once again, be able to have their babies delivered in Macclesfield Hospital, closer to their homes and their loved ones”.

“This is a very positive outcome,” he added.