Christchurch's St George’s Hospital will be stopping its maternity services in June as its contract with Te Whatu Ora ends due to staffing shortages.
It comes as an agreement was reached between Te Whatu Ora and the hospital announcing the contract won't be renewed, cutting off by 30 June of this year.
The unit had become “unsustainable” thanks to a nationwide midwifery shortage.
“It has become clear through our ongoing discussions that safe staffing and workforce constraints due to the national midwifery shortage mean the service at St George’s is not sustainable,” Te Whatu Ora’s Fionnah Dougan said.
While the maternity contract is set to end, the hospital will still be partnered with Te Whatu Ora, providing some hospital and specialist services.
Jill Ovens, co-leader of the Midwives’ Union (MERAS), called it “a sad day”, saying it means Christchurch’s central city won’t have a primary birthing unit.
It means mothers-to-be will have to travel nearly half an hour away by car to reach the nearest unit. A new primary unit is set to open in the centre city later in the year.
She wanted to see the contract extended until that new facility was built.
“Ideally, it would have been better for women to have access to a primary unit in the city until the end of the year, but that is not to be,” 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.”
Te Whatu Ora says that most of the services carried out by St George's have already been picked up by other units, with only ten births and 34 postnatal transfers taking place a month.
“To put that in context, over 6000 babies are born in Canterbury each year,” Te Whatu Ora’s Fionnah Dougan said.
Ovens said that fingers shouldn’t be pointed at anyone for the closure, saying it’s a reflection of wider problems in the sector.
“The issues are more broadly entrenched across the maternity and health sector, and Aotearoa is reaping what has been sown.
“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.”
Ongoing workforce stress, the “slow recognition” of midwives’ skills and slow pay parity negotiations is why the contract wasn’t renewed, says Ovens.
“Had those who can make the difference been courageous enough to sort multiple issues out when they were first appeared a decade ago, I don’t think we would be in the challenging situation we are now,” she says.
Last year, a petition hoping to keep the unit open was presented to St George’s.
It garnered 31,000 signatures and led to the decision being extended.
Christchurch mothers will still have access to Rolleston, Rangiora, Christchurch Women’s Hospital and the new Oromairaki Maternity Unit at the Toka Hāpai, which opened last year.
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