Medical director resigns over maternity services closure
Dr Karen Davies said she could not support the way the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is handling the situation
Last updated 19th Aug 2026
The medical director of a Devon health trust has resigned, in protest at a decision to suspend birthing services at North Devon District Hospital.
Dr Karen Davies said she could not support the way the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (RDUH) is handling the maternity situation.
Birthing services at the Ladywell unit were temporarily suspended, on August 11, due to a lack of doctors, leaving women with long journeys to get to Exeter or Taunton, to give birth.
The trust says it is committed to re-opening the unit as soon as possible, possibly by the end of September, but the closure was slammed as “a catastrophic failure of senior management” by Devon County Council leader, Julian Brazil (Lib Dem, Kingbridge), this week, which had left women “anxious” and “terrified”.
Dr Davies said she was concerned a proposal for additional support, which “could have produced a plan to avoid closure”, was not brought in.
North Devon Council member, Paul Crabb (Con, Ilfracombe), who spoke out against the trust’s decision at a meeting of Devon County Council’s health and adult care scrutiny committee on Monday, calling it “sudden and chaotic”, said: “It is sad that someone with that level of experience feels that the only way that can get action is to resign.”
He said the meeting this week, to grill senior health leaders together, with documents released by the trust since the announcement, revealed just how fragile all services were at NDDH and that there appeared to be a “gravitational pull”, to centralise services at Exeter.
“We now know there is stress and shortfalls, across the whole system in North Devon. This whole episode is a massive wake-up call,” he said.
Health bosses have denied that NDDH is being “deliberately downgraded” and said the decision to suspend birthing services had been taken, because it was not safe to continue after a locum doctor left the small team of consultant obstetricians and registrars and another had to travel overseas, because of sudden bereavement.
Chief medical officer at RDUH, Dr Vanessa Purday, said the decision “weighed heavily on her and her colleagues” but the safety of women and their babies was “an overriding consideration.
"We are deeply saddened to have received Dr Karen Davies resignation, and we thank her for her contribution to the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
"The Trust has a responsibility to make decisions based on clinical risk, patient safety and the available evidence. The decision to temporarily suspend birthing services was reached through established clinical, executive and system governance processes when safe staffing could no longer be assured.
"The Trust takes all views and concerns raised by senior clinicians, or any colleague seriously. We are confident that our clinical executives explored every available option before this difficult decision was taken in collaboration with the clinical and operational leaders responsible for the service. The overriding consideration throughout was the safety of women, birthing people and their babies.
"Our focus is on supporting women, birthing people and families impacted and delivering on the positive progress being made to reopen birthing services at North Devon District Hospital."
Devon County Council is stepping in, to organise transport for women, who have no access to private transport, to Exeter, during the temporary suspension.