A large teaching hospital in Portadown, Northern Ireland, serving around 241,000 people and run by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust.
Maternity services at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple have been suspended due to staffing shortages, forcing expectant families to consider long journeys to Exeter or Taunton. Trust leaders say the move is temporary and focused on safety, with other maternity services continuing elsewhere at the Royal Devon site.
Northern Ireland’s Southern Trust is preparing to temporarily move inpatient maternity services from Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry to Craigavon Area Hospital due to a shortage of consultant obstetricians. Clinics may continue at Daisy Hill, but safety remains the priority as the trust seeks to maintain service in the longer term. Barnstaple, Devon, is grappling with a separate maternity unit closure due to staffing shortages, forcing expectant parents to travel long distances for birth. The situation underscores broader staff shortages and the travel implications for rural families.