Contribution
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Christopher. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Chichester (Jess Brown-Fuller) on securing this hugely important debate. Today I will highlight both the excellence and the challenges of maternity services in my constituency of Epsom and Ewell.
Last year, the dedicated staff of Epsom and St Helier university hospitals delivered more than 3,400 babies. Their commitment to patient care is outstanding, with care being ranked No. 1 in London for patient experience. Both units have also achieved UNICEF UK baby friendly hospital initiative gold accreditation, reflecting their exceptional support for new mothers’ feeding choices. Those outcomes are testament to the experience, compassion and hard work of the staff, despite the conditions they work under.
Our maternity services are held back by infrastructure that is simply not fit for purpose. Some of the hospital buildings at Epsom and St Helier are older than the NHS itself. Those conditions make it harder to provide the high standards of care that mothers and babies deserve. At St Helier hospital, the maternity unit’s lift regularly breaks down, making it increasingly difficult to safely transfer maternity patients to intensive care or the main theatres. Both Epsom and St Helier hospitals lack waiting areas and suitable space to maintain privacy, making it harder to implement a nationally mandated triage system and to provide private spaces, which are vital for bereaved families.
Every year, the trust spends millions just on patching up these crumbling facilities, which is not sustainable. The cost of maintaining outdated buildings and equipment diverts critical resources away from the frontline. Furthermore, staff are stretched thin by running duplicate services across two sites, which affects patient outcomes. The promised new hospital in Sutton was meant to solve those problems by bringing together emergency care, maternity services and in-patient paediatrics in a modern, specialist facility. However, the Government have pushed construction back to at least 2032, leaving our community in limbo. Meanwhile, Epsom general hospital alone needs £44 million-worth of repairs, with 46% classed as high risk, meaning that failure to address them could lead to serious injury or major service disruption. If the UK is to be the safest place in the world to have a baby, we must do better.
Beyond the building, staffing remains a critical issue. A local midwife recently shared with me the reality of working in our maternity services. She described how the staffing problems in maternity continue to be dire. There simply are not enough midwives rostered each day to cover the work, which makes it unsafe for women and their babies, and creates an unsustainable working environment for those left behind. Midwives are working longer hours, starting early or leaving late, taking on more than they should just to ensure women are seen. This leads to burnout, and many midwives ultimately leave the profession as they feel that the stress and huge responsibilities are not matched by adequate support or fair pay.
As a woman, the midwife told me how deeply saddened she is that this is the service being offered to women in this country. The care a woman receives during childbirth has lifelong implications—not just for her, but for her children and for society as a whole. She worries that women’s choices, particularly around home births, are becoming increasingly sidelined. Women’s autonomy over their own bodies is becoming less relevant, and she fears what that means for the future of maternity care for our daughters and granddaughters. Her worries reflect those of so many across the country.
I have three children, all of whom were born successfully in London. I wanted a home birth for all of them. Sadly, we were only successful in having one home birth due to complications, but I am grateful that I had the choice. I thank Brierly midwives for that, but not every woman today has that choice.
The people of Epsom and Ewell, Leatherhead and Ashtead—and around the UK—deserve outstanding maternity care, unhampered by crumbling infrastructure, chronic understaffing and a lack of investment. As a first step, I urge the Government to release the full impact assessment of the delays to the new hospital programme and reconsider the decision. We cannot afford to let maternity services deteriorate any further. The safety of women, babies and midwives depends on it.