Whitehaven hospital 'maternity consultants should stay'

Consultant-led maternity services should be kept at a hospital but only if enough staff can be recruited, a government review has said.

The Health secretary's Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) has reviewed the service at West Cumberland Hospital amid concerns over safety.

Panel members considered several options but deemed keeping services in Whitehaven to be the best.

Hospital trust bosses said they were "wholly committed" to the service.

The NHS North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) initially said it favoured a second option which would have seen Whitehaven's maternity services, which aid about 1,200 births a year, be midwife-led.

They said they were struggling to recruit enough staff, particularly paediatric consultants.

A public consultation showed the "strongest positive support" was for keeping Whitehaven as a consultant-led unit.

The IRP is also recommending the creation of a review group to monitor maternity services with "factors such as staffing assessed continuously".

The review said "the intention must be to do everything possible" to keep the service led by consultants and recruitment must be pursued.