The NHS has recommended that no more babies should be born at the Whittington, arguing that maternity services across five north London boroughs are no longer ‘sustainable’

HEALTH chiefs have been warned that any attempt to axe services at the Whittington will be met by strong resistance after proposals to close an entire maternity department at a major hospital were unveiled.

The NHS has recommended that no more babies should be born in either the Whittington in Archway or the Royal Free in Hampstead. They argue that maternity services across five north London boroughs – including Islington and Camden – are no longer “sustainable”.

This has been caused by a nurses and midwives staffing crisis triggered by low pay and the cost of living crisis, and due to a falling birthrate caused by parents leaving north London to find affordable and decent-sized homes.

A four-month consultation on the changes is due to be officially launched next week.

Jeremy Corbyn, Islington North MP, told the Tribune: “I fully support and admire the Whittington Hospital for all that it does for our community, and I fully support efforts to defend its outstanding maternity and neonatal services.

“I hope that in future developments that this service can be made available not just for our immediate community in Islington but for people in Enfield, Camden, Islington, Barnet and Haringey too.”

The Tribune played a key role in two campaigns to stop cutbacks at the hospital in 2010 and 2013.

Thousands of people joined marches behind our battle bus along the Holloway Road. The first campaign in 2010 was about stopping plans to axe the A&E and maternity units. This time around,

Whittington insiders are optimistic they can survive the cuts. But there is a general sense of alarm that such a major part of the north London health service could be done away with in such a way.

One staff source at the Royal Free said: “You have to wonder, what is next?”

The North Central London Integrated Care Board – a group of senior health chiefs who decide how hundreds of millions of pounds of Islington’s NHS funding is spent – publicly unveiled details of its “Start Well” programme on Wednesday.

At a press briefing about the plans the day before, attended by two newspapers, the Tribune and the Enfield Dispatch, they stressed the proposals – which amount to removing one of the five hospital maternity units in north London – will have to go out for consultation before being approved by the board.

Top bosses said a staffing crisis in the NHS, caused by low wages and the extortionate rent ­levels private landlords, is being blamed for a service that has become “unsustainable”.

Hospitals across the country are struggling to maintain “safe staffing” levels because of the high numbers of unfilled posts. Agency staff spending is at an unprecedented high.

The plunging birthrate is also claimed to be a contributing factor with the number of babies falling.

Earlier this year the maternity unit at the Whittington was rated “requires improvement” following an unannounced inspection by the Care Quality Commission. It found large numbers of medical staff – 40 per cent – not having completed mandatory training, particularly when it came to reporting abuse.

There was also concern about there being “no systemic approach” to the way women and “birthing people” are triaged when they call up the ward on the big day.

The cash-strapped Whittington has for many years been trying to overhaul the department with a £100million scheme.

In a statement, NCL’s Jo Sauvage, the chief medical officer at NCL, said: “While NHS frontline staff work incredibly hard to deliver good quality maternity, neonatal and paediatric surgical care, services aren’t currently set up in the best way to meet the changing needs of local people.

“Fewer babies are being born in North Central London and more complex care is often needed during pregnancy and birth, and we need to adapt our services to that. Our goal is to align services with the changing needs of the community and continually evolving best practice.”