Maggie Throup, campaigner and Health Watch Dog has today reinforced her concerns over the closure of maternity services at Solihull Hospital. This comes as the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust is criticised over poor emergency and neonatal services at its other hospitals, Heartlands and Good Hope.

Ms Throup said: “Maternity at Solihull seems to have been the sacrificial lamb in this whole sorry situation. It now seems that the services Solihull Mums will now have to use are well below par.

“I have grave concerns for mum and baby safety across the Trust. The changes have been rushed through in a political move to beat a change in government and without the promised consultation.

“We now learn that the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has produced a damming report saying the paediatric assessment units are not fit for purpose and some of the existing facilities are working at 177% capacity. This was before 2800 extra births from Solihull were directed to the other hospitals just a few weeks ago.”