There are still a couple of weeks left to share your views on proposed changes to how and where some maternity, neonatal and children’s surgical services across north central London (NCL) could be delivered in the future. The consultation period will close Sunday, 17 March at 11.59pm.

Start Well drop-in sessions are being held at community venues across NCL’s boroughs over the next few days, including in:

  • Enfield: Monday, 4 March from 4.30 to 7pm at Edmonton Green Library Hub
  • Brent: Wednesday, 6 March from 10am to 12.30pm at Harlesden Library

The sessions are informal and you can attend at any time.

Get full details of all the sessions

The proposed changes cover three areas:

  • The first is a proposal to reduce the number of maternity and neonatal units in NCL from five to four, with all hospitals delivering a minimum of level 2 neonatal care. There are two potential options proposed for consultation. 
    • Option A would mean that services could be delivered at University College London Hospitals (UCLH), Barnet Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and Whittington Health and the closure of the service at the Royal Free Hospital. 
    • Option B would mean that services are delivered at UCLH, Barnet Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital and the closure of the services at Whittington Health.
    • While both options are implementable, option A is the preferred option because on balance the programme has recommended that it has more advantages than option B.
    • In both proposals all maternity and neonatal services would close at one hospital site.

    • In all options there would need to be a focus across all hospitals to deliver best practice standards and our new model of care.  This would include significant additional investment to improve, expand and modernise the estate and facilities in the hospitals that continue to deliver maternity and neonatal care.

  • The second is a separate proposal to close the birthing suites at Edgware Birth Centre, while retaining antenatal and postnatal care on the site.
  • The third is a proposal to consolidate some surgery for babies and very young children in centres of expertise at Great Ormond Street Hospital and UCLH.

These proposals follow thorough work with clinicians and patients to design services which meet the needs of local people and respond to opportunities to improve, which were identified last year. They can be read in the consultation document on the NCL Integrated Care System website here.

How to have your say

There are four ways you can get involved in the consultation, which opened in December and closes on Sunday 17 March at 11.59pm:

By online questionnaire: complete the questionnaire
By email: StartWellConsultation@ors.org.uk
By post: send your views to Opinion Research Services, FREEPOST SS1018, PO Box 530, Swansea, SA1 1ZL
By phone: call 0800 324 7005

You can find more information on how to take part by visiting the NCL Integrated Care System website.

No decisions have yet been made and these are proposals at this stage. The public consultation, which is being run by NCL Integrated Care Board and NHS England Specialised Commissioning, is an opportunity for everyone, including staff at the Royal Free London, to share their views.