Union hopes to avert Epworth maternity ward closure

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) is hopeful the closure of Epworth Geelong’s maternity ward can be avoided.

The future of maternity ward, at Deakin’s Waurn Ponds campus. is still uncertain more than a week after the hospital announced the ward may be forced to close by March next year.

The hospital caught existing staff and prospective parents by surprise last week when it announced its maternity ward at Deakin’s Waurn Ponds campus would stop taking new bookings immediately due to staff shortages and posed a possible closing date of March 1, 2023.

ANMF (Victorian branch) secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said midwifery members asked the union to work with Epworth management to resolve the situation.

“Our Epworth midwifery and nursing members and the ANMF believe there are many creative recruitment and retention options that will strengthen its workforce to keep the maternity service open,” Ms Fitzpatrick said

“There are some complexities, but we’re keen to work with Epworth to understand how its staffing issues can be resolved,” she said.

“We believe there are initiatives that will help recruit new midwives and importantly retain the precious midwives it already has and provide part-time midwives with the incentives and flexibility to be able to increase their hours.

‘“We won’t pre-empt those options because we want to have respectful conversations with Epworth Geelong management.

“We don’t want to see a private regional maternity service close particularly when the local birth rate is rising.”

A change.org petition launched by Geelong GP, Dr Elise Davey, was launched soon after Epworth flagged the ward’s closure, and at time of writing has garnered over 11,300 signatures.

The petition’s webpage states that “closing a thriving maternity unit would be a devastating blow to the region”, and to do so “at a time when the community need is so high will have untold effects on the public maternity service, the lives of the families already engaged with their care and indeed on the reputation of the Epworth at large.”

A Barwon Health spokesperson previously stated that in the event of Epworth’s maternity ward’s closure both its University Hospital and St John of God Geelong had the capacity to absorb extra patients and it would welcome Epworth midwives and other staff to apply for roles in its maternity ward.