Shrewsbury Midwife Led Unit re-opens following flooding repairs

The Midwife Led Unit at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) has re-opened after flash flooding caused services to be temporarily suspended.

The flooding caused damage to the roof of the Midwife Led Unit at 5pm on Monday 18 September and services were immediately suspended while repairs were carried out.

Services were restored at 12noon on Wednesday 20 September.

Sarah Jamieson, Head of Midwifery at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), said: “We would like to apologise for this unpredictable short term closure, but I am pleased that we have been able to ensure repairs are carried out in the shortest time possible to ensure services are once again up and running fully.

“The moment water started leaking through the ceiling and into one of the rooms at the MLU, following a heavy downpour of rain at approximately 4pm on Monday, we took the immediate decision to close the unit for the safety of our patients and staff.

“No equipment was damaged as a result of the flash flooding and the roof has now been fully repaired. A full assessment of the repair work was carried out this morning (Wednesday) and a further risk assessment was conducted shortly before we re-opened to ensure we can once again start looking after our patients safely.”

All women who were due to have their baby during the period of temporary suspension were notified, and calls were diverted so that women had 24/7 access to a midwife. Anyone in labour was asked to make their way to either Wrekin Midwife Led Unit or the Consultant Led Unit at Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford.

Further plans are being drawn up to improve the structure of the Shrewsbury MLU following a number of minor repairs in recent years.

Sarah added: “Shrewsbury MLU has been subject to a number of repairs over recent years, but plans are being made to carry out a period of extended repairs to the building in spring/summer 2018 so we can provide improved local midwifery services for local people. We will inform the public about how we propose to implement the plans as soon as we have more information.”