“There are no threats to maternity services at South West Acute Hospital,” a spokeswoman said.

Concerns were raised for the future of the well regarded unit at the Enniskillen hospital last week when the Trust made a call for parents and expectant mothers to give their views on how the service should be delivered in future. 

Given previous concerns over the retention of staff at the unit, as well as the Trust’s previous plans to chop SWAH neonatal services which would have had a direct impact on the unit, concerns were immediately raised by the Trust’s statement. 

In response to these concerns, raised in last week’s Herald, the Trust has said there is no threat, adding it was simply asking parents for “an informal chat” on their experiences. 

 “We cannot improve our services without listening to the needs of our patients and clients and our maternity user groups do exactly this,” said Deirdre Mahon, director of women and children’s services. “We want to listen to parents who have used our maternity services and take on board their comments to see if we can make any improvements on patient experience, as well as hearing the things which are working well for our patients.”

Those who want to give their views are invited to the maternity user group at the SWAH Parent Craft Room on October 2nd from 7-9pm.