More than 200 babies born outside Yeovil since maternity closure

Paul JonesAugust 19, 20250 Comment0

MORE than 200 babies who would have been born in Yeovil have come into the world in Taunton, Dorchester or Bath, it has been revealed.

Three months after the controversial decision to close the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) and inpatient maternity services at Yeovil District Hospital (YDH), the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has given an update on progress at the site.

The report will now be reviewed by the integrated care board (ICB) and further conclusions drawn.

Data in the document revealed 212 babies had been born who previously would have been at YDH between May 19 and the end of the week beginning August 11: 90 at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, 96 at Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester, five at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, five in other hospitals and 16 at home.

“We thank all our service users, their families and our colleagues for their understanding, support and hard work during this period of upheaval,” a Somerset NHS spokesperson said.

They added: “We know that these temporary closures have had a big impact on all of our service users and on our colleagues.

“We are continuing to work with Dorset County Hospital and the independent Somerset Maternity and Neonatal Voices partnership to support service users, and with our colleagues to support them.”

The services at Yeovil closed in May – initially for a six-month period – over concerns about “the safety, quality and fragility of the paediatric service”.

“Consultant paediatricians from Musgrove Park Hospital (MPH) stepped in to work at both acute hospitals which enabled us to keep running inpatient and outpatient paediatric services,” the spokesperson went on.

“However, we were not able to keep the SCBU open and the consequence of this was that we also had to temporarily close inpatient maternity services at YDH.”

The decision followed Care Quality Commission (CQC) published reports published at the end of June into the paediatric services at both MPH and YDH, following an inspection in January.

The CQC rated the paediatric service at YDH as inadequate overall and the paediatric service at MPH as good overall.

“Our priorities are to provide an equitable service for babies, children and young people across Somerset, to recruit to key roles, and to ensure our paediatric services have strong governance processes and a positive learning culture,” the spokesperson said.

An update is expected once the ICB has analysed the update.

The closure prompted outcry from residents and officials in Somerset, including MPs and county leaders, who have called for certainty over the future of the maternity services in Yeovil.