Concerns have been raised by a Sefton councillor over proposed changes to gynaecological and maternity services in Merseyside, as the local NHS Board insisted they will not lead to the closure of the existing Liverpool Women’s Hospital site.
Proposed Changes
The Board of NHS Cheshire and Merseyside agreed in January to progress with plans to move some services away from Liverpool Women’s and into the Royal Liverpool hospital, and has this month launched a public consultation on the idea.
At the moment, most hospital gynaecology and maternity services in Liverpool happen at the Women's, which is located on a separate site 1.3 miles away from Royal services like critical and emergency care.
This can cause significant problems with regards to providing safe and timely care to women, the NHS has said, as when a medical emergency occurs they have to be taken in an ambulance to the Royal or Aintree. The Royal also doesn't have a neonatal unit, so if a mother is taken there after giving birth, her baby has to stay at the Women's.
The proposal would see about 30 pregnant women with serious medical conditions like congenital heart disease give birth at the Royal, while about 75 to 100 women would receive specialist gynaecology care such as complex pelvic surgery where intensive care support is likely to be required afterwards. All in all, it would affect an estimated 1% of cases.
The local NHS Board has said that this would not solve all of the problems stemming from having gynaecology and maternity services on a separate site, as it is not always possible to predict when specialist or critical care may be needed. However, it could make things safer in planned complex procedures, it said.
Concerns Over Future Closure
The consultation has revived concerns among some that at some point in the future the Women’s may be closed and services moved to the Royal. In 2017, a report stated that this would be the most “appropriate” option, but this was met with a massive backlash.
The Save Liverpool Women’s Hospital campaign, which has long protested against the possibility of closing or moving the site, has now said in a statement that it believes the “relatively small change” to services proposed now is “intended to be the forerunner of moving the whole service to the Royal”.
Sefton Councillor's Questions
At a meeting of Sefton Council’s Adult Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday, Formby East councillor Catie Page said that a few years ago, “There was an awful lot of unrest and upset because they wanted to close the Women’s.
“I understand that children have to go for medical emergencies to Alder Hey, and women do have to be taken for medical emergencies to the Royal, but I know at the same time people were very, very concerned.
“I’m hoping this isn’t but is this a potential move to try and close the Women’s and move everything to the Royal?”
Cheshire and Merseyside ICB spokesperson Clare Barrow said: “This isn’t. What we are consulting on is the relocation of a small number of services over to the Royal Hospital to avoid having to transport those women to the Royal who need to potentially be put into intensive care, for example, or who’ve got more complex medical needs that can be addressed at Liverpool Women’s.
“Liverpool Women’s is part of a group now with Liverpool University Hospitals Trust. I can’t comment on what might happen in the future.
“There are regular updates that go to the ICB [Integrated Care Board] on this, and I’m aware that there are regular concerns expressed even at the ICB Board meetings about that, but at this point in time what we are consulting on is the relocation of a small number of services.”
Cllr Page then asked why those complex cases cannot be treated at the Women’s. She added: “[Women] feel safer [there], and that was very much the feeling at the time. I don’t think that will have changed.”
Investment and Future Plans
The proposed changes would require a £5.5m investment from the NHS to create the new treatment spaces, while a further £2.2m would be needed for extra staffing and resources.
A new dedicated space would be created in the Royal for gynaecology operations and high-risk births and neonatal support, while at the Women’s an enhanced care unit would be developed with an increase in specialist doctors in areas like urology, cardiology and critical care.
The clinical team caring for the women would need to discuss the plan with them in each case before such an arrangement was put in place.
The Board has also said that it has not been asked to progress or discount any longer-term options for the future of women’s health services in Merseyside, but has confirmed a commitment to resolving the long-term sustainability of these services.
The ICB has said that a review carried out in 2025 concluded that the clinical risks facing gynaecology and maternity services in Liverpool could only be resolved by relocating services alongside an adult acute hospital, which would need significant investment.
Therefore, at the moment the Board is not progressing with a proposal for this level of change, it said.
However, it added that it remains committed to resolving long-term sustainability issues around women’s services as well as making the smaller-scale changes outlined in this proposal.
Further information on the current proposals can be found here. The public consultation will end on July 14.
