Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-07-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve access to consultant-led maternity services in (a) Cumbria, (b) Devon and (c) Essex.

Ben Gummer

The Government is clear the configuration of services should be tailored to meet the needs of the local population.

As of June 2015, three local health economies, Mid and South Essex, Northern, Eastern and Western Devon and West, North and East Cumbria entered the Success Regime. The purpose of the regime is to improve and promote health and care services for patients in local health and care systems that are struggling with financial or quality problems, or sometimes both. The regime is tailored to local circumstances, and will develop and implement plans to ensure that the people of these regions are able to access high quality, sustainable services. The provision of maternity services will be considered as part of the work of the Success Regime.

No decisions have yet been made and the input of local communities will remain important throughout the process. Any significant service change proposals will go through formal public consultation.