Midwife job cuts at Birmingham hospital in bid to save £6million

MIDWIFE jobs are being axed at hospital in a bid to save £6 million – despite birth rates soaring in the city.

Birmingham Women’s Hospital bosses are forcing 270 midwifery staff to reapply for their jobs in the “skill mix review”.

The midwives are being offered redundancy, or a pay cut of between £2,500 and £6,000 a year to become midwifery assistants.

The cuts are being made despite Prime Minister David Cameron pledging to recruit 3,000 more midwives across the country and protect frontline NHS jobs.

The axed jobs are of great concern as Birmingham has one of the highest baby death rates in the UK, which, health watchdogs have said, is exacerbated by a shortage of midwifery services.

The hospital, in Edgbaston, delivers 7,000 babies a year.

Bosses said they need less managerial midwives and more midwife assistants.

Health watchdog Coun Deirdre Alden (Edgbaston, Cons) said: “I understand the hospital has to make savings, but is cutting midwives the answer? They should be looking at back room functions and not frontline staff. What price is a child’s life?”

Gerard Coyne, regional secretary of Unite union, representing NHS workers, criticised the move and said: “This gives rise to a very real concern about the continued quality of maternity care.

“This is just the start and there are a host of key areas of care that will face a substantial change as a result of the Government’s agenda.”

Women’s Hospital Chief Executive Steve Peak said: “In all, 15 out of 270 midwifery staff are affected by the skill mix review. In order to maintain financial stability, we have undergone a consultation with our staff to look at where productivity gains can be made.

“We need to find over £6 million of savings. Our consultation with staff is reviewing skill mix and how best we can utilise the skills we have across the organisation.

“We are confident that the safety and quality of our services will not be adversely affected.”

Mr Peak said natural turnover and a small number of redundancies were expected and all staff remaining would have their existing pay protected for up to two years.

From: Birming Hammail