Maternity Wards in England have been closed to new admissions over 2000 times in the last 4 years.

The figures reveal a raft of closures across the NHS largely caused by staff shortages which have plagued maternity services in recent years.

Figures obtained by Blackwater Law through Freedom of Information requests sent to 125 NHS trusts in England, with 90 responding, revealed that maternity wards closed to new admissions 848 times in the most recent financial year, up from 657 closures in 2022/23.

Closures have slowly been increasing since 2020/21, with 155 reported closures in that year, 541 in 2021/22, 657 in 2022/23 and 848 in 2023/24. While COVID may have contributed to maternity ward closures in 2020/21, the increase since then may hint at a larger issue within the NHS’s maternity systems.

For many trusts, closures do not mean maternity services are inaccessible, as trusts with multiple hospitals are able to divert between the sites. The disruptions however still represent a change to birthing plans and potentially longer travel times for expecting families, which can be distressing.

Aswell as the number of closures impacting maternity wards, Blackwater Law were also able to obtain the length of time each maternity ward was closed to new admissions in many instances. The length of time maternity wards were closed ranged from a few hours to multiple days at a time for some trusts. A number of trusts were not able to provide the exact length of time for some or even any of their closures, so the true scale of some closures is unclear.

Of the 90 trusts that responded to the Freedom of Information request, 55% had experienced at least one closure since 2020/21 (50 maternity wards). Closures across the NHS units were not evenly spread, with some trusts suffering from repeated closures over the years. Just four trusts accounted for more than half of the total number of closures, a major concern for families in these areas.

The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust closed their maternity unit to new admissions 630 times over the last 4 years, closing 290 times in 2023/24 alone, this was the highest number in the country. South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust closed 298 times within the period. York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust closed 165 times, and County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust closed 119 times.

Blackwater Law were also able to obtain the reasons for the closures to new admissions. The most common reason for closures of maternity wards to new admissions were due to staff shortages, followed by high levels of acuity (a measure of the severity of patient needs) on wards.

The data suggests that wards had to close at roughly 300 times due to staff shortages, and around 186 times due to high levels of patient acuity. The figure is likely to be higher than this, as not all trusts recorded the reason for why they closed a maternity ward to new admissions or would provide the information.

The figures come at an already worrying time for the state of maternity services in the UK. A string of high-profile reviews into maternity care have shown repeated failings at a number of NHS trusts.

The Royal College of Midwives report a shortage of around 2,500 midwives across England, and in 2023 the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated 49% of maternity units as “inadequate” or “requires improvement”, compared to 39% in 2022.

Commenting on the figures, Head of Medical Negligence at Blackwater Law Jason Brady said “These closures can cause expectant mothers to travel greater distances to receive essential care, which can lead to increased risks for both mothers and their babies.”

“Timely access to specialised maternity services is important for the safety and well-being of mothers and newborns and the lack of such services to ward closures could result in preventable complications, delayed treatments, and even serious injury or death”.

Other findings in the report                                                                                                                        

• Hillingdon Hospitals Closed 290 times in 2023/24, highest of the trusts that responded in that year.
• Northern Care Alliance Closed for 471 hours (19.6 days) in 2023/24, the longest closure length of trusts that responded to requests in that year with that information.
• County Durham and Northern Care Alliance repeatedly had to close due to staff shortages, 47.5 and 36.87 times respectively over the whole period (May 2020 – April 2024).
• East Kent Hospitals repeatedly had to close due to capacity issues, 44 times over whole period (May 2020 – April 2024)
• University Hospitals Bristol closed repeatedly due to acuity problems on maternity wards, 44 times.
• Harrogate and District Trust had to close in October 2023 due to a bomb threat.

Methodology

A Freedom of Information (FOI) (2000) request was sent to 125 NHS trusts in England that provided access to maternity units, asking how many times each maternity ward in the trust had to close to new admissions within the specified time (FY2020/21 – 2023/24) as well as the reason for closure and the length of closure.

The data provided is based on the 90 complete responses we received.