(2) what steps she is taking to encourage NHS trusts (a) to support existing birth centres and (b) to establish new birth centres;
(3) if she will list the birth centres in England; and which birth centres have been closed (a) permanently and (b) temporarily in the last three years.
The information requested on the cost of a normal birth in a birth centre and consultant-led maternity unit is not collected centrally. Reference cost data are collected against three specific health care resource groups: normal delivery with or without complications or co-morbidities, assisted delivery with or without complications or co-morbidities and caesarean section with or without complications or co-morbidities. This information is shown in tables one and two.
The maternity standard of the national service framework for children, young people and maternity services requires national health service maternity care providers and primary care trusts to ensure that the range of services available locally constitutes real choice for women, including care in midwife-led units either in the community or on a hospital site. It is for primary care trusts and NHS trusts to determine the appropriate pattern of service provision locally, taking into account the needs of local people, evidence of effectiveness and available resources.
The information requested to list birth centres in England and on which birth centres have been closed either permanently or temporarily in the last three years is not collected centrally
Interquartile range of costs HRG code HRG label Number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)cost National average unit cost (£) Lower quartile (£) Upper quartile (£) Number of bed days Average length of stay (days Number of data submissions N06 Normal delivery w cc 160 1,226.94 1,119 1,541 647 4.04 18 N07 Normal delivery w/o cc 3,720 902.71 673 1,365 7,098 1.91 106 N08 Assisted delivery w cc 54 1,280.46 1,174 1,635 233 4.31 13 N09 Assisted delivery w/o cc 703 1,137.76 684 1,499 1,822 2.59 31 N10 Caesarean section w cc 346 1,767.19 1,450 2,989 1,933 5.59 35 Nil Caesarean section w/o cc 2,989 1,468.80 1,250 2,237 10,110 3.38 65 Totals 7,972 — — — 21,843 — — Source: 2004-05 Reference costs schedule NSRC4: NHS trust and primary care trust (PCT) combined/TELIP sheet.
Interquartile range of costs HRG code HRG label Number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)cost National average unit cost (£) Lower quartile (£) Upper quartile (£) Number of bed days Average length of stay (days Number of data submissions N06 Normal delivery w cc 21,770 1,576.22 1,112 2,103 75,771 3.48 224 N07 Normal delivery w/o cc 351,662 935.37 682 1,160 653,733 1.86 355 N08 Assisted delivery w cc 6,173 1, 887.17 1,517 2,383 26,458 4.29 179 N09 Assisted delivery w/o cc 61,450 1,309.17 957 1,524 160,860 2.62 217 N10 Caesarean section w cc 20,174 2,880.01 2,140 3,537 127,208 6.31 209 Nil Caesarean section w/o cc 110,213 2,121.77 1,562 2,492 462,024 4.19 241 Totals 571,442 — — — 1,506,054 — — Source: 2004-05 Reference costs schedule NSRC4: NHS trust and primary care trust (PCT) combined/TELIP sheet.