Reopening of birthing services at North Devon District Hospital delayed
Births at the hospital in Barnstaple were suspended in August due to staff shortages
Last updated 15th Sep 2026
The NHS trust in charge of North Devon District Hospital has confirmed that birthing services will not reopen later this month as planned.
Births at the hospital in Barnstaple have been temporarily suspended since August 11, with pregnant women having to travel to places like Exeter and Taunton.
The Royal Devon University NHS Healthcare Foundation Trust announced earlier this month a provisional reopening date of 29th of September.
Health bosses have now said despite a national recruitment campaign they have not yet met the "agreed staffing levels needed to safely reopen services later this month."
The trust has said it is "fully committed" to reopening the maternity unit at the hospital but they will only do so when they are "confident the service is safe, sustainable and not at risk of closing again at short notice."
Dr Vanessa Purday, Chief Medical Officer, said: "We know this will be deeply disappointing news for women, birthing people, families, our local communities and staff, who were hoping to see birthing services return at the end of this month. We also recognise the ongoing uncertainty and anxiety the temporary suspension has caused, and we are sorry that we are not yet in a position to reopen the service.
“While we have made progress on recruiting to both our consultant and registrar rotas, we still have further work to do to meet our thresholds and to complete the comprehensive onboarding and induction programme all new staff who join our teams must undertake.
“The 29 September date was always conditional on final staffing and safety assurance. We continue to balance the patient safety risks of reopening against those associated with the temporary suspension. Given the fragility of workforce availability, it remains safer to maintain the temporary suspension because this means women and birthing people have access to senior medics should they need it.
"This is not a decision to permanently close birthing services at NDDH. We remain fully committed to reopening the service and will continue to be open and transparent about our progress, the challenges we face and the steps we're taking to address them. We share the determination of colleagues and our communities to achieve this as soon as we possibly can."
The Trust has said it will carry out another readiness assessment on Monday 28 of September and has not yet set another provisional date for the reopening of services.
A spokesperson for the Trust said "every opportunity" is being explored to recruit both "temporary and permanent" staff, including international recruitment.
They added that they have formally requested support from the wider NHS.