THE future of a North-East maternity unit will be considered as part of a consultation on wider changes to health services.

Deliveries at the midwifery-led unit at Bishop Auckland Hospital have been suspended since July 2013 after County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said it could not guarantee a safe outcome should a complication develop during labour.

If a woman needed consultant-led care she would need to be transferred by ambulance to Darlington Memorial Hospital or The University Hospital of North Durham, Durham City.

When the service was available the birth rate had been dropping to about 200 to 250 births per year.

Since the temporary closure, the foundation trust has only had two enquiries about the unit.

In a report to members of Durham County Council’s adults, wellbeing and health overview and scrutiny committee, the director of nursing Gill Findley recommends the maternity unit is included in a wider consultation so it can be seen in the context of other clinical services across all sites.

Prior to the temporary closure, the North-East Ambulance Service exceeded its overall target of reaching 75 per cent of emergencies in eight minutes.

However, the average response time to Bishop Auckland Hospital, where nearly a third of the five births each week require an ambulance transfer, was 25.2 minutes in April 2013 and 28 minutes in May 2013.

The statistics relate to a variety of cases including traffic accident victims and people who suffered heart attacks, but there is no specific target for maternity calls.

Market research carried out with women of childbearing age found that 94 per cent of them rating their maternity care as good or excellent.

The report added: “When asked to choose the most important factor women said having a doctor or specialist on hand was the most important thing and given birth at a co-located unit alongside a consultant-led unit was the most popular choice.

“However, when women were informed about the services available in the area, they stated that even though they valued the issues listed about 53 per cent of nulliparous women would still want to use the midwifery-led unit at Bishop Auckland Hospital.”

• The report will be discussed at the adults, wellbeing and health overview committee and scrutiny committee on Friday, January 16.