ARE the Making it Better proposals really going to make maternity and children's services better?

That is one of the major questions put to trust bosses over many months, particularly as Fairfield faces the loss of its maternity department and special care baby unit. Here are the key messages health experts are using to explain why Making it Better is the way forward for children's in-patient, maternity and neo-natal services across Greater Manchester:

  • No jobs will be lost, no hospitals will close and it is not a cost-cutting exercise, as millions of pounds will be invested into services to improve standards.
  • For 95 per cent of patients within the review area, there will be no change. Women living in Bury will still have their ante-natal classes, check-ups and routine appointments at Fairfield. By the time they are due for labour, the mothers-to-be will have discussed with their doctor where they would like to give birth and have more choice.
  • Staff are spread too thinly across the 14 hospitals currently providing in-patient care, forcing maternity units to close frequently. The European Working Time Directive becomes law in 2009 and will make the situation even worse as more doctors will be needed to staff the same hours. The proposals will see more teams of professionals working together in fewer hospitals.
  • Healthcare staff need a critical mass of patients to care for in order to maintain their skill level and are currently not getting the vital experience. If fewer hospitals provide in-patient care for children and babies, the staff will be specialising their skills day in, day out.
  • Doctors working for the Making it Better consultation estimate up to 20 babies' lives each year will be saved by the changes to intensive care.
  • Birth rate is falling so there will be fewer children in the future.
  • Medical experts say that, in Greater Manchester, there is no evidence that travelling time is an issue in relation to safety. The average labour lasts 18 hours and, with more than 96 per cent of the population living within 30 minutes of their nearest hospital, this will give plenty of time to reach a suitable hospital. Ambulance transfers are used in emergencies.
  • Midwife-led units are still a possibility for Bury for mothers who have had a complication-free pregnancy, no history of complicated labours and are expecting a healthy birth. That decision will be up to Bury Primary Care Trust if it decides the town needs one.
  • Patients already travel to receive the best specialist treatment. For example, The Christie Hospital in Withington for cancer care, and Wythenshawe Hospital for brain injuries.
  • The current children's in-patient services are outdated and designed for when children stayed in hospital for longer periods of time. The average length of stay for a child in hospital now is less than one day.
  • Emergency care will still be available to children at Fairfield - they will not be turned away. Special Observation and Assessment units will be created to care specifically for children and will be staffed by emergency and paediatric clinicians.
  • If Fairfield loses its in-patient children services and a child needs to be admitted in an emergency, the child will be stabilised at Fairfield before being transferred by ambulance to the nearest in-patient paediatric ward.
  • The community nursing team in Bury will be expanded so more children can be treated in their own homes rather than the unfamiliar surroundings in a hospital.
  • Services will not close overnight and it will take between three to five years before the changes begin to take place.