North Devon leaders warning after maternity services suspended
A meeting's been held today
Last updated 17th Aug 2026
Local political representatives have issued a united demand for urgent action, transparency and accountability at today’s Devon County Council Scrutiny Committee Meeting, after the sudden suspension of maternity services at North Devon District Hospital (NDDH).
“Minutes matter — and this decision puts lives at risk.”
Leader of the Conservative Councillors’ Grouping at North Devon Council, Paul Crabb, said the sudden suspension has “shaken confidence across the community” and exposed deeper staffing failures: “North Devon is served by the most remote acute hospital in the UK. In maternity care, minutes can be the difference between safety and catastrophe.”
Councillor Crabb criticised the lack of warning and communication, noting midwives learned of the decision through Facebook. He demanded clear accountability: “Who is accountable if the first maternity death happens on the A361 because of delays caused by patient transport? That question needs an answer today — not a process, not a reassurance, but a name or at least a job title.”
Pru Maskell, Councillor for Braunton West & Georgeham at North Devon Council, and former nurse at NDDH said the crisis follows the cancellation of the planned £500 million hospital re-development. Cllr Maskell highlighted long-term reliance on locum consultants and a growing perception that services have been “drifting to Exeter” since the Trust merger: “People in North Devon should not have to feel that their postcode determines the quality of healthcare they receive.
“Women in rural communities are being placed in terrifying situations.”
Cllr Maskell called for safeguards to ensure that “temporary does not become permanent” and urged full transparency, about how the crisis developed and how it will be resolved.
County Councillor for Combe Martin Rural, Andrea Davis, shared a real case of a mother on remote Exmoor — pregnant with her fifth child after four losses — forced to travel to Exeter with no mobile signal, no taxis and miles of isolated roads: “Babies don’t wait for clear roads or convenient timings. The thought of a mother labouring in a car on a dark, isolated road, with zero mobile signal, is nothing short of terrifying.”
Cllr Davis demanded answers to four urgent questions:
What emergency plans exist for women in areas with no mobile signal?
How will safe transport be guaranteed when taxis and public transport don’t exist?
Has a rural risk assessment been conducted — and what travel me is considered safe?
How will women contact triage if stranded in signal blackspots?
Call for immediate action
The three leaders urged the Trust to publish a clear plan for restoring maternity services, address long-standing workforce gaps and commit to fair investment between Exeter and Barnstaple.
“North Devon deserves a hospital that is properly staffed, properly invested in, and properly valued.”
Chief Medical Officer at the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Vanessa Purday, said: “It is mission critical for us to reinstate birthing services at North Devon District Hospital. We fully recognise the impact this is having on our whole community and like everyone we believe that these services are vital and this suspension must be temporary.
“We are grateful to the councillors and members of the public for their questions and feedback. We commit to transparency and as well as publishing requested details we will work openly with all partners on both managing the temporary suspension and our reopening plan. Listening to the voices of women, birthing people and their families will be a crucial part of that.
“The discussion today has highlighted the particular barriers and inequality that rural communities face and the challenges that health providers face in maintaining safe local services. That our new hospital rebuild has been put back to 2040 risks heightening service fragility in North Devon. We were heartened by the commitment from our council and commissioning colleagues to work with us to ensure the sustainability or local services.”