Future of Kendal maternity services up for discussion

Health bosses and staff from a maternity unit in south Cumbria will ask the public what they think about potential changes to the service.

There's proposals to make an on-call midwife service at the Helme Chase maternity unit at the Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal, a permanent fixture.

The future of the services are being discussed at public consultations across South Lakes.

The Helme Chase maternity unit has been operating a temporary on-call midwife service overnight and at weekends since 2014.

This interim change was made almost two years ago by Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.

It means that while women can still deliver their babies at Helme Chase 24/7, the staff are no longer on duty in the unit overnight and at weekends if there are no women or babies to care for.

Instead they operate an on-call service and if a woman goes into labour during these hours they arrange to meet her at the unit or at home.

In 2014, South Lakes MP Tim Farron condemned the changes, saying it would be 'intolerable for local mums'.