A Buckinghamshire midwife shortage remains ongoing a health chief has confirmed, while Wycombe Hospital is ‘not allowing births’.

Michelle East, the director of midwifery at the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, provided an update on the situation during a meeting of Buckinghamshire Council’s health and adult social care select committee on Thursday.

She told the meeting: “In terms of the midwifery shortage, it is still a national problem. We have been trying to impact that locally here by taking on an additional undergraduate provider.

“We have partnered with another university that are now providing us students and those students are due to qualify this year.”

The official said that nearly 30 newly qualified midwives would be joining the workforce in 2024 in a ‘bumper year’ for the Trust.

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However, she also added: “That said, our vacancy rate remains high and it is still an ongoing problem.”

Amid the staffing pressures, international nurses are also be recruited, East added, saying that the Trust was supporting them through a master’s programme to undertake their midwifery training.

A report by East said the Trust was continuing to look at ways to increase the number of midwives in the service.

Over the last 12 months the organisation has reduced its vacancy rate from 30 per cent to 20 per cent, with the aim of achieving 8 per cent by November 2024.

The report states: “In line with the recommendations of the Ockenden report, we are focusing on providing continuity of carer during the ante and postnatal period until our midwifery vacancy rate is reduced to support minimum safe staffing levels on all shifts.

“Once our vacancy rate is below six per cent, we will look to extend our continuity of care offering across the full pregnancy pathway as evidence shows that this delivers the greatest health benefits.”

Service provision at Wycombe Hospital was also raised during the committee meeting, with the Trust ‘not currently allowing births’ at the Wycombe Birth Centre, according to its website.

The temporary closure is said to be due to the ‘ongoing impact of the pandemic on staff’ and the need to keep parents and babies safe, although scheduled appointments are still taking place there.

Cllr Julia Wassell told the meeting that she did not think the Trust fully understood the views of some people from ‘deprived communities’, including ethnic minorities.

The councillor claimed she had picked up from some residents that there was ‘quite a severe fear’ developing around Stoke Mandeville Hospital and added: “It is referred to as where people go to die.”

She added that there were ‘all sorts of reasons’ why pregnant women from a deprived background would not want to be transported ‘hither and thither’, including from Wycombe to Stoke Mandeville, prior to giving birth.

East defended the Trust, saying that there was ‘equity’ of services across pretty much all of Buckinghamshire.

She added: “That being said, the engagement exercise that we undertook this year told us that women find it challenging getting to Wycombe even if they are local because of the location of the birth centre, getting there and the situation related to parking.”

The Trust is working on the introduction of a healthy pregnancy advisor in Wycombe, as well as the expansion of the perinatal mental health midwifery team and the creation of a women’s health hub at the site.

Cllr Wassell also told the meeting: “I have heard a lot of fear around not having local, accessible, comprehensive services from some sections of our community.”

She added: “Obviously A&E is a big one, the Urgent Care Treatment Centre waiting time is quite lengthy.”