Concerns about the future of Stroud maternity hospital continue to be expressed by local people but I would like to say I have been assured it will not be closing.
A few weeks ago, I got in touch with senior members of Gloucestershire NHS to ask for clarity about the situation regarding the closure of post-natal beds and to be clear about the hospital’s future.
Since I contacted them, the trust confirmed the post-natal beds are closing temporarily due to staff shortages and sickness including covid related sickness.
Hospital managers have said they are reviewing the decision weekly. Community midwifery will continue as usual and people who have babies in Stroud maternity can stay for the first 6-12 hours. This is far from ideal – a point I have made to the trust.
I felt like I had been run over by a bus after having my babies and I credit the time in Stroud Maternity with the team teaching me how to be a new mum and recuperating. Post-natal beds are very important and I will not stop lobbying to ensure the service returns to normal as soon as possible.
To keep up the pressure, I have also raised the issue of post-natal beds at Stroud in parliament.
However, this is not an isolated problem. There is a national issue about maternity and midwives, with many NHS Trusts struggling to recruit and retain these vital experts and seemingly endless reports about problems in hospitals around the country.
I will continue to raise these issues to keep pressure on the NHS and government to see what can be done to bring about change for parents, babies and maternity staff.
I am pleased Rishi Sunak is the new Prime Minister. We need economic stability right now and he is the man to do that.
I supported him to become PM in the summer and I backed him this time too. He is a decent bloke – very humble, but super smart and experienced.
I know he enjoyed coming to Uley to meet local party members and some of the Stroud Times team in the summer.
Rishi has a huge job to do with the economy. Tackling the cost of living pressures and making sure Putin does not get away with invading Ukraine is a full-time job even without a raft of other challenges.
He has made a solid start and some good ministerial appointments. It’s now time to get on with the job without any further distractions. I would quite like politics to be a bit boring for a while too! We have all had our fill of dramas.
Rishi’s rise to the top job says a lot about modern Britain. Our first South Asian PM is something to be proud of as a country and for the Conservative party.
