North Devon maternity service could reopen by end of September

The decision to suspend birthing services at the hospital – which serves north Devon and part of north-east Cornwall – led to the resignation of the trust’s medical director who said she could not “support the way the trust has handled, and is handling, the maternity situation”.

Dr Karen Davies said in her resignation letter the trust had “fundamentally failed the people of north Devon”.

Devon County Council leader Julian Brazil also accused the trust of “a catastrophic failure of senior management” and on 15 August hundreds of people protested in Barnstaple over the decision.

Responding to Davies’ resignation, Vanessa Purday, chief medical officer at the Royal Devon, said 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,” she said.