Musgrove can't wait

In Parliament on Monday, Taunton and Wellington MP Gideon Amos called for a new maternity and paediatric unit at Musgrove Park Hospital to be built sooner than planned.

The unit has been included in the government’s funding programme – but isn’t scheduled to happen until 2033.

Gideon has been campaigning for the work to be brought forward and raised the issue during a Westminster Hall debate on maternity care.

He said that, at present, water was coming through the ceilings when it rained and there were temperatures of 30°C in the summer.

The Secretary of State had said, when speaking about Musgrove Park Hospital: “If I can bring forward the timetables of these schemes … we will.”

Gideon asked that the Government do everything they can: "To hasten their hospitals programme so that maternity services, and the conditions in which mums give birth and staff work, can be improved as quickly as possible”

He said afterwards: “The Government’s Health Secretary Wes Streeting came on to Radio Somerset and promised to bring forward hospital projects where he could so I’m not going to let up until they have delivered on exactly that.

“Musgrove midwives are working in the toughest conditions as they try to improve care for mums and babies, but being roasted in summer and rained on in winter is no way to treat them or vulnerable patients.

“We have won major victories with a new NHS dental practice and new pharmacies in the constituency this year, but Musgrove deserves more support and care, and our NHS remains my number one priority. 

The debate called for the appointment of a Maternity Commissioner to improve maternity care after a petition had been signed by nearly 154,000 people, including 236 in the Taunton and Wellington constituency.

Karin Smyth, Minister of Secondary Care, said: “All those women and their families deserve to know that their voices will be heard and that action will be taken.

“That is why the Government have launched their new maternity and neonatal taskforce, chaired by the Secretary of State.

She added: “The challenge for this Government over the next couple of years is not just to build on the progress we are already making but to accelerate it.

“I want women who signed the petition to know that we have heard them loud and clear.

“We know that there is so much more that needs to be done, but I ask that they do not judge us on the strategies we publish or the people we appoint—we must be judged by our results.”