A Board briefing took place this morning to discuss progress towards safely reopening birthing services at North Devon District Hospital. The Board acknowledged the determination to restore birthing services as quickly as possible.

The briefing clearly demonstrated the solid progress being made towards securing the required number of senior medical staff required and the Board confirmed agreement of these requirements to enable us to reopen safely. Before confirming a reopening date, the Board has asked for final assurance that those requirements have been met in full.

We remain cautiously optimistic that we will be in a position to do this by the end of September, subject to final Board assurances on operational readiness, resilience and sustainability. A formal Board meeting to agree the reopening plan is being scheduled for next week.

We understand that women, families and the wider community want certainty, and we remain focused on reopening the service as soon as it is safe and sustainable to do so. We will provide a further update once those final assurances are in place.

The Trust will continue to keep women, families, staff and local communities informed throughout this period. Regular updates, a patient information pack, support information and frequently asked questions are available on our NDDH birth services temporary changes webpage.

Following the temporary suspension of birthing services at North Devon District Hospital earlier this month, the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust focus has been on supporting women, birthing people and families impacted by the temporary suspension and delivering on the commitment to reopen birthing services as quickly and as safely as possible.