St Peter's Hospital will temporarily stop providing inpatient services as it is no longer possible to sustain a "safe and high-quality service" at the Maldon facility, the NHS has announced.

The hospital's birthing unit, which sees six births a month on average, will relocate. Maternity outpatient appointments will continue at St Peter's, but those wanting to give birth in a midwifery-led unit will use the Willian Julien Courtauld (WJC) birthing unit in Braintree or Broomfield Hospital instead.

Deborah Goldsmith, Director of Midwifery at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We want to provide families with the best experience when they are having their babies, and the modern, purpose-built facilities in Braintree will allow us to do exactly that.

"Unfortunately, we had to regularly close the facilities at St Peter's, but using the birthing suite at WJC means we will be able to offer a safer and more reliable service."

Meanwhile, short-term inpatient community rehabilitation beds will also be relocated. St Peter's Hospital building has deteriorated in recent years and is no longer the best place to deliver inpatient care, the local health authority says.

Bayman Ward at Brentwood Community Hospital will instead provide 25 beds for stroke rehabilitation in modern accommodation, replacing the 16 beds at St Peter's.

Outpatient services such as diagnostics, screening and blood tests will still be provided from St Peter's for residents.

The outpatient areas of the hospital do not present any immediate safety issues. Several short-term solutions have been implemented to protect patients, visitors, and staff. For example, the lift used to access stroke rehabilitation services on the first floor has broken down several times, so temporary measures have been put in place to keep patients safe.

These moves are interim and form part of plans to "make the best use of collective healthcare facilities" this winter.

Permanent proposals for longer term plans for stroke rehabilitation, intermediate care and maternity services must be the subject of formal consultation. Plans should be drawn up by the end of the year and will take the form of a "pre-consultation business case", used as the basis for formal public consultation and decision making early next year.

In August last year, the birthing unit at St Peter's Hospital was temporarily closed due to 'staffing levels'.

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