DEFIANT Petersfield mums wheeled their prams into Westminster on Wednesday, taking advantage of a rare opportunity to thrust their Save The Grange campaign into the national limelight. Three leading group members were given exclusive permission to take their babies into the heart of the House of Commons, where campaigners questioned an influential minister about the closure of the popular Swan Street birthing unit. They were able to fire questions at health minister Liam Byrne at an all-party parliamentary group on maternity services. And the meeting, attended by scores of midwives from across the country, was hailed a triumph by leading Grange campaigner Becca Randall. Talks are now due to take place between Mr Byrne and East Hampshire Primary Care Trust following a grilling by the determined mothers. And campaigners believe there is a good chance Mr Byrne could even attend the next public meeting on The Grange, to be chaired by East Hampshire MP Michael Mates, who has been a strong supporter of the Save The Grange campaign since it was launched last summer. It is the second time in two months that East Hampshire mums have taken their battle to the heart of central government. The campaign follows a massive outcry last year when the birthing unit - together with The Blackbrook Centre in Fareham - was temporarily closed. Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust bosses blamed a shortage of staff caused by maternity leave and long-term sickness. Since then a series of high-profile demonstrations and meetings have helped put the campaign into the public eye. In December, campaigners knocked on Prime Minister Tony Blair's front door at 10 Downing Street to hand over a massive petition containing the signatures of 10,000 supporters. But they believe the situation has still not improved, and are seeking reassurances from health chiefs about a date for reopening. So far no date has yet to be set, and a decision will not be made before the end of next month. At the meeting on Wednesday, Mr Byrne said that in future primary care trusts would have to measure their reasons for closing maternity services against strict new government guidelines. He said: "I am happy to get in touch with your PCT and I will ask them how they measure their policy against these guidelines. "The amount of money going to PCTs is going up by 19.5 per cent - typically that is several tens of millions. Eventually that will mean care for people closer to home. "We have a more holistic picture of what a practice should be like. Why can't we have midwifery services that are run like practices?" Leading campaigner Becca Randall asked Mr Byrne why the number of job vacancies for full-time equivalent midwives had almost doubled since last year. He replied that strong leadership was the key to maintaining successful birth centre services, rather than instantly finding extra midwives. He told the meeting: "What is important now is to make sure that good workforce planning is in place there. "What we have noticed is that where there are outstanding midwifery services, there is outstanding leadership. "It is not that they have got more buildings, better infrastructure or stronger community fabric. One of the things they do is put a great deal of attention on workforce planning - it is all about bringing the right people through. "But planning is not just about bringing the right number of people in. It is about the right mix of people being there to serve people well." Committee chairman Laura Moffatt MP concluded by congratulating the efforts of the Grange supporters for bringing their campaign "to the heart of central government", and asked whether they would like to attend similar talks in the future. And after the meeting Mrs Randall handed Mr Byrne a report of the progress of the campaign so far. She told The Herald: "It is excellent that the minister said he may be able to come to the meeting in late February. "We handed over our package of information directly to him, and the fact that we opened and closed the meeting was fantastic. "We were here as mums and I think it has really helped raise the profile of the campaign." q The House of Commons meeting will be followed by a public meeting later this month at Petersfield's Festival Hall. The meeting, on February 22 at 8 pm, will once again be chaired by East Hampshire MP Michael Mates, and will be attended by PHT's chief executive, Ursula Ward.
