Maternity unit 'desperately' needs to be rebuilt, says MP

An MP is calling for a promised new hospital maternity unit to be built earlier, as demand increases and mothers complain about their experiences.

Taunton MP Gideon Amos said he was worried about "knock-on pressures" on the Somerset town's Musgrove Park Hospital following the temporary closure of a maternity unit in nearby Yeovil over safety concerns.

Georgie Murray-Gourlay, from Taunton, has two daughters, both of whom were born at Musgrove Park, the youngest just months ago.

Ms Murray-Gourlay said she felt "claustrophobic and hot" in the building and that other mothers she spoke to at the time felt the same.

"My experience with Musgrove wasn't that great," she said. "When I was pregnant with [oldest daughter] Lily, I had various midwives, I didn't know who to call.

"I had bleeding several times when I was pregnant and I had to ring them up a lot.

"When I got through to someone on the phone it didn't seem like they were bothered, they kept sighing."

She added that they sounded like "they didn't have sympathy, which was a real shame".

The unit has previously been criticised for the poor condition of the building, with one mother saying it was "really old and run down".

Musgrove Park Hospital was due to be rebuilt by 2030 as part of an election promise for 40 new hospitals made by the Conservatives in 2019.

But in January, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the plans under the New Hospital Programme were not affordable.

He said the delivery of many of the new hospitals, including Musgrove Park, would be delayed to 2040.

Construction at the hospital is now not expected to start until 2033.

Mr Amos said temperature control was a significant problem at the Musgrove maternity unit.

"We've got 30C heat in the summer, staff fainting, we've got holes in the roofs, it's desperately urgent that we get the new unit we were promised," he said.

A spokesperson for Somerset NHS Foundation Trust said staff were "disappointed" when the promised investment was delayed.

"We have an ongoing programme of maintenance for our maternity and children's unit buildings to ensure we can continue to provide a good standard of care," the spokesperson said.

They added that a number of improvements had been made to the maternity units at Musgrove Park and Yeovil District Hospital since inspectors rated them as inadequate in November 2023.

"Our maternity teams are working extremely hard to improve the experience of our service users within the current maternity estate," the spokesperson said.

Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.