University Hospital Praised at Party Conference
University Hospital has been resolutely praised at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton.
Speaking in front of the Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Cllr Mark Davis, who represents Stoke-on-Trent South, described the new maternity centre as magnificent. Cllr Davis' wife Jane recently gave birth to a boy who was six weeks premature and had to spend time in the hospital's special care baby unit.
He said: "Our little boy Joseph was born six weeks early, as you might guess that was something of a shock to my wife Jane and I. Joseph is doing fine today. As Joseph was about to be born the delivery suite filled with people, obstetricians, paediatricians, nurses, midwives, in the end there were seven members of NHS staff to help our son into the world. Not a thought about cost, not a thought about health insurance, just there to help. Being born so early, Joseph was taken to the special care baby unit, as new parents you can imagine how scared and anxious we were. Thankfully we didn't have to worry about anything other than how our son was doing; the NHS was there for us."
Cllr Davis believes people don't talk enough about just how great the National Health Service is, and how much it has improved.
He said: "From the community midwife at our local sure start, to the doctors and nurses in our hospital, they were all there for us. Now halfway through his stay in hospital, Joseph had a little adventure. North Staffordshire is currently seeing the building of its first new hospital in 140 years. Joseph was there when the state-of-the-art new maternity unit was opened at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire. The same skilled and caring staff, the magnificent new building, our lives, like so many others, shaped by the NHS. The new hospital has also recently opened a new cancer unit, changing more people's life chances for the better."
Julia Bridgewater, University Hospital Chief Executive, is delighted Cllr Davis took such a public opportunity to praise the staff at the maternity centre.
She said: "The staff at the maternity centre have been wonderful during the transfer of services from the old to the new centre. 6,000 babies are born with us each year, like Councillor Davis' family, they have benefited from the quality of care offered by our staff in an environment that now matches their expertise."
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