Maternity services at two hospitals in Leeds forced to close to new births last weekend
It was due to unsafe staffing levels
Last updated 22nd Aug 2025
Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust temporarily closed suites at St James’s Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary sites on 16 and 17 August.
All new patients were diverted to neighbouring hospitals as a result of the closures, which ran from 4pm on Saturday to 7am on Sunday, and from 2.30pm on Sunday to 6.30am on Monday.
The trust said it was due to low staffing levels and unexpected short-notice sickness.
Rabina Tindale, Chief Nurse at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said:
“We are committed to providing safe, high-quality maternity care at Leeds General Infirmary and St James’s Hospital. The safety of women in labour is our absolute priority, and we take staffing levels extremely seriously.
"On 16 and 17 August, we made the difficult decision to temporarily close our delivery suites at both hospitals from Saturday at 4pm to Sunday at 7am, and Sunday at 2:30pm to Monday at 6:30am due to low staffing levels and unexpected short-notice sickness.
"This was done to ensure we could continue to provide safe, 1:1 care, and all new patients in labour were diverted to neighbouring units on a temporary basis. This is in accordance with our existing escalation policies and as agreed within the West Yorkshire & Harrogate Local Maternity & Neonatal System (LMNS). When the units were open, full 1:1 safe care was maintained.
"We are actively strengthening our midwifery workforce and between September and November this year, 40 midwives will be joining our teams, which will improve staffing resilience and help us maintain safe maternity services.”
Meanwhile, it's sparking fresh calls for an independent inquiry into Leeds Maternity Services.
Fiona and Dan Winser-Ramm from Leeds Hospital (LTHT) Maternity Family Support Group said: "This is a dire situation for a city the size of Leeds, forcing families, at the most vulnerable times of their lives, to be having to travel such distances to seek help, therefore putting some women and their babies at increased risks.
"This, in turn, also unfairly puts excessive pressure on other units who won’t necessarily be equipped to deal with the complex pregnancies that Leeds takes.
"The level of understaffing is shocking and raises serious questions about how management have allowed it to reach this point. This provides yet further evidence for why a full, independent inquiry, to be led by Donna Ockenden, is needed into Leeds Maternity Services."
We have approached the Department of Health and Social Care for a comment.