Heatherwood Hospital 1997

Our Hero

A male midwife has been hailed a hero by one of his former patients.
Chris Nelson, who works on the labour ward at Heatherwood Hospital, is slightly embarrassed at his new title as runner-up in the Our Baby magazine Midwife of the Year Competition.
The nomination came from Bracknell woman Tamasine Woods, who gave birth to Freja Grace Elizabeth at the Ascot hospital on August 28.
After two years of fertility treatment, she said it was Mr Nelson who kept her and her husband sane throughout pregnancy and birth.
She wrote to the magazine: "He made me feel like a person and not a patient. He never let me lose my sense of humour and assured me that the baby would arrive at the local midwife unit as I wished."
But Mr Nelson was shocked at being praised for doing a job he thoroughly enjoys.
"I was very surprised and happy that she was happy," he said.
"I had seen her all the way through the pregnancy this is the way we work now, it is really good for them and us.
"We can follow the mums all the way through from when we first see them to delivery to post-natal visits."
He loves his job, one that has traditionally been a female profession.
"I like the fact that the delivery is something natural, and that we can help the mums through it," he added.
"We can share the enjoyment of the baby being born and the wonder does not diminish."
Extract Bracknell Times 02/01/1997

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The photo captioned:"Our Hero".
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Calls For New Hospital

There are renewed calls for ever growing Bracknell to have its very own hospital.
The plea has come from Alan Hilliar, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary spokesman for the borough.
At the moment patients go to Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot, or travel to Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading or Wexham Park in Slough.
Mr Hilliar said: "Bracknell has taken so much housing development that it has grown to the point where it could justify a district hospital in its own right."
Either the RAF Staff College site or land at the Transport Research Laboratory in Crowthorne, which are both earmarked for development, could provide the perfect location.
He said that it could provide medical services for central Berkshire with the Royal Berkshire catering for the west of the county and Wexham Park for the east.
Mr Hilliar was speaking out following a public meeting organised by the Heatherwood Advisory Group to discuss the future of healthcare in the county and the implications for Heatherwood Hospital.
Almost 60 people turned up to listen to a Berkshire Health Authority spokesman outlining main aims, including improvements to emergency care, reducing operation waiting times and centralising acute services.
After the meeting, advisory group chairman Jerry Glynn said he had concerns about the proposals which did not take into account the population growth and difficulties with travelling.
"People still think that Heatherwood Hospital is doomed but the hospital trust has done as much as it can.
We would like to see a full accident and emergency service here together with maternity and baby care units. Given the huge growth in population in this area we need our own hospital."
Extract Bracknell Times 06/02/1997

 

Australians Fill Nursing Shortage

By Ben Lloyd
'It's cheaper to recruit down under' claim
Nurses have had to be brought in from Australia because the Heatherwood and Wexham Park hospitals cannot find enough staff from this country.
The director of human resources of the trust, Peter Murphy, said repeated attempts had been made to fill vacancies by advertising nationally, but the trust had been forced to look further afield in order to solve recruitment problems.
Mandy Williams, Labour's prospective Parliamentary candidate for Windsor, said: "It is the government's fault for not anticipating the number of nurses being trained.
The number of nurses employed is falling and the number of managers is rising.
"I think they need to change the entire ethos of the NHS.
It is so pressurised and there are so little rewards these days." Mrs Williams said that the majority of nurses entered the profession because they wanted to care for people.
However, she claimed a recent survey by the Royal College of Nursing revealed that most nurses felt that the caring ethos of the NHS had disappeared.
Sixteen Australian nurses are working at the Ascot hospital with 18 more set to arrive at the hospital before June.
Mr Murphy said: "We are delighted with the response we had to our recruitment drive in Australia.
The standard is very high and they bring not just clinical skills but commitment and enthusiasm to out trust.
"The cost of the exercise was well worth it. In fact if you consider how much it costs to advertise vacancies in the major nursing journals, plus the cost of employing agency staff to cover vacancies, we think it is cost effective."
Extract Bracknell Times 20/03/1997

 

Quality of Care More Important than Nurses Nationality

By Ben Lloyd
It does not matter where nurses come from as long as they provide quality care, Bracknell MP Andrew MacKay claimed last week.
Mr Mackay's comments came after the recruitment of Australian nurses by the Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals Trust to cover staff shortages,.
He said: "I want my constituents to be treated by qualified, warm, sympathetic nurses.
"Whether they are British or Australian doesn't particularly matter. If these Australian nurses are doing a good job, all well and good."
He said the key factor was that the Ascot hospital has made sure it has adequate staffing levels to look after patients.
When asked if paying nurses more money would attract more recruits, he said: "We are all under public spending restrictions.
The Labour Party has made it clear that we are under restrictions. It is difficult to pay nurses more in a low inflation climate."
Director of 'human resources' at the Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals Trust, Peter Murphy, said he was delighted with the Australian recruits.
"They are very, very professional and intelligent," he said."They fit in very well."
Mr Murphy said the hospital had to recruit overseas because the number of nurses being trained nationally has fallen, while the number the trust needed to employ has increased.
He added that the demands on nurses have also increased.
He said: "It's unfortunate. It's just about as cost effective as recruiting in England. It would be nice to be able recruit in the UK, but it's not a major catastrophe."
Mr Murphy said that better government employment planning might do something to alleviate nursing shortages, but added that there were numerous other factors involved.
He said that the number of nurses trained was up to the NHS executive.
The whole method of training nurses has changed over the last five years, he said, resulting in less nurses entering the profession. Nursing training has passed into the university sector, demanding more academic work and less practical experience.
Nursing manager, Alyson Hill, said: "Australian nurses have always been highly regarded. The training is of a high standard."
She visited Sidney, Brisbane and Melbourne in November and interviewed 73 nurses.
She said the nurses were assessed on the same rigorous criteria as those recruited at home.
Sixteen nurses are now working at the trust, with 18 more set to arrive.
Extract Bracknell Times 27/03/1997

 

Why English Hospitals Proved So Attractive

Working at the Heatherwood and Wexham Hospitals Trust in Ascot is right up the street of the new Australian nursing recruits, writes Charles Nelson.
Married couple James and Julie MacTaggart from the Gold Coast came to England because they wanted to travel.
After the couple have completed their six month nursing contract they will be visiting the continent, before returning to Australia.
Anaesthetic nurse James, aged 28, said: "It's so close to Europe and Australia is so far from anywhere.
"If you want to go to see the rest of the world it's a long way.
"We have a base to find out what we want to see. We can plan it and go.
Staff nurse Julie, aged 30, added: "Both of us wanted to come. We had the same ambition while training in Australia to work overseas."
Julie looks forward to visiting Egypt and Turkey.
James said that working in the Ascot hospital was similar to working in Australia.
"It's the same as going from one hospital to another," he said.
He said that wages were not as good in England and rents higher, but added that he left Australia to travel, not to save up.
Psychiatric nurse Jill Speake, from Victoria on the east Coast of Australia, has brought her entire family over to Britain.
Jill, aged 38, intends to stay for two years.
She said: "People have been extremely welcoming and warm.
Jill also came to work in Britain to make it cheap and easy to travel.
She said: "I came to see Europe, England, Ireland and the Commonwealth." She has already enjoyed a trip to Bath. She said that her sons Nicholas, aged five, and Alexander, aged six, found it funny seeing road signs with pictures of deer on them when they have been so used to seeing warning signs with pictures of kangaroos and wombats.
Extract Bracknell Times 27/03/1997

 

Austin McCormack, Labour leader for the Bracknell unitary authority elections

Labour believes the key to a healthy and prosperous community will be the creation of an effective partnership with all sectors of the community.
We believe residents Bracknell Forest are ready for an open and accessible council, modern and progressive in its thinking, innovative in its actions.
A Labour unitary council will put in place key action plans to set the new council on course. We aim to continue our work with local businesses and to pursue European link to ensure Bracknell Forest achieves its full economic potential.
Education and young people will be a focus for a Labour unitary council.
In addition there will be an extension of nursery places, development of pre and after-school provision, and improvement of special needs support; a radical youth action plan will tackle welfare, crime, drugs and accommodation.
Learning is a lifelong process not just a matter for schools.
Labour will reflect a caring approach with support from the elderly and other groups provided through a mix of private, voluntary and public organisations.
We will continue to work with health care provider pressing for a reinstatement of vital services at Heatherwood hospital.
Residents want to see a clean, green, safe and healthy environment; free of traffic congestion and over-developed green fields.
Labour will work closely with the community to achieve that vision.
Labour's vision requires community participation.
Having already demonstrated good housekeeping in the use of resources, Labour's ability to deliver value for money leaves it well placed to lead Bracknell Forest into the 21st century.
Extract Bracknell Times 01/05/1997

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Night Time Doctors

Night-time doctors Bracknell doctors are paying for a new localised night service after hic- cups in the previous service.
The SEB-doc scheme, initiated and exclusively paid for by South East Berkshire doctors, was launched last Wednesday.
The scheme, up and running from May 30, will have four local doctors on a rota to see patients between the hours of 11pm and 8am in Bracknell, Crowthorne and Slough.
Operating out of a central base at Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, the new scheme will replace the previous system, Health Call, which has been operating for a year, covering Berkshire as well as other counties and London.
SEB-doc will continue to use the out of hours surgery, based at Churchill House, Easthampstead. It will be financed by the 60 doctors covered by the scheme.
Extract Bracknell Times 15/05/1997

 

Emma Launches Hospice Sunflower Appeal

Television presenter Emma Forbes launched the National Association of Hospice Fundraiser's annual June Sunflower appeal this week.
The appeal is a month long initiative to raise money for over 200 hospices in the UK.
The Paul Bevan Cancer Foundation based at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot is entirely supported by donations from the general public.
Volunteers will be collecting on behalf of the Sunflower Appeal at a number of sites in the Bracknell and Ascot area from June 18 including Tesco in Warfield, Tesco in The Meadows, Sandhurst, Sunningdale Waitrose, Sainsbury in Birch Hill, Ascot Railway Station, Bracknell band stand and Bentals in Bracknell.
Other participating hospices include Duchess of Kent House in Reading, the Thames Valley Hospice in Windsor.
The sunflower appeal works like a poppy appeal and sunflower buttonholes will be available throughout the month.
Money raised will be used to maintain the standard of care in hospices.
Patients take pottery and music classes, benefit from trained masseurs and physiotherapists and have access to counselling.
Spokesman for the National Association of Hospices Jody Halll said:"Celebrity support is vital to raise awareness of a given charity, and we are delighted that Emma Forbes helped launch our appeal this year.
"She is exactly the right personality to reflect the positive image of hospices we wish to promote as warm and friendly places offering light and light to our patients."
She added that participating hospices need an average £2,000,000 a year to survive.
Extract Bracknell Times 12/06/1997

 

Keep Safe

Bracknell Southern Electric depot staff have been named one of the top three teams for safety in the company's league.
Staff at the depot have remained accident free for over five years, in terms of no time being lost after the day of the incident.
A reward of £3,000 was given to the team for their efforts which they will donate to their favourite charities.
Local works manager Phil Yates said: "We take safety extremely seriously, and we are delighted to be able to give our prize to such worthy causes."
The Bracknell staff plan to give donate the money to Macmillan Nurses in Berkshire, Neo-Natal Unit Heatherwood and Wexham trust,Park Hospitals Trust and the 2nd Bracknell Scout Group.
In total £46,500 was given to charities throughout the south by Southern Electric staff who won awards in the company's annual safety at work competition.
Salisbury depot had the best safety record with no time lost to accidents in the last six years, followed by Bracknell and Petersfield, which have gone five years without an accident.
The awards were presented last week at Southern Electric's annual safety conference held at Winchester Guildhall.
Safety manager Keith Gould said: 'For a company such as Southern Electric safety is paramount, for the well being of staff, and also for the safe supply of electricity to our customers."
Extract Bracknell Times 03/07/1997

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Reading Hospitals Gain Poor Marks in Audit Report

By Janis Cleugh
The Royal Berkshire & Battle Hospitals' NHS Trusts have scored below average in nearly all categories in an audit report.
The NHS Performance National Guide for 1996-97 ranked the Trust as third worst in the Anglia and Oxford region, which encompasses Berkshire.
In accident and emergency statistics, it revealed the Trust had assessed 90 per cent of patients within five minutes of arrival the average performance for the region was 93 per cent.
Only Horton General Hospital NHS Trust and Milton Keynes General NHS Trust came lower.
This compares with East Berkshire Community Health NHS Trust who chalked up an impressive 100 per cent in the A&E department service time.
West Berkshire Priority Care Service NHS Trust took 98 per cent, while Heatherwood & Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust gained 96 per cent. Royal Berkshire was also placed poorly for non-emergency admissions into hospitals.
Of people who were due to have treatment or an operation, only 56 per cent received care within three months of deciding to admit.
The regional average score was 72 per cent.Other figures in the category were: East Berks Community Health got 77 per cent Heatherwood & Wexham got 75 per cent West Berks Priority Care Service got 69 per cent The report also stated that Royal Berkshire Ambulance NHS Trust fell below standards for 999 emergency response times.
It ranked eighth worst in the country (95.2 per cent) for rural ambulance authorities arriving within target times.
The Patient's Charter says that ambulances in rural communities must reach their destination within 19 minutes compared with 14 minutes in an urban area.
Extract Wokingham Times 10/07/1997

 

Proof That Age is No Barrier in Giving Help

Dedicated volunteer Lewis Story might be 90 years old on Monday but his enthusiasm and charm are as captivating as ever,spends another morning at the Paul Bevan cancer unit at Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, as well as visiting nursing homes in Chobham, Sunningdale and Ascot.
Writes Carley Pullen
There are many volunteers who dedicate their time to worthy causes, but Lewis, of Callow Hill, Virginia Water, is rather exceptional as he has notched up an outstanding 30,000 hours of voluntary work since his retirement 30 years ago.
Lewis humbly accepts the praise by explaining that he is committed to serving the community and likes to do something useful when he has idle time on his hands.
Patients and visitors at St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, will recognise his smiling face as the one that greets them at the Duchess of Kent enquiry desk two mornings a week.
As if that was not enough, Lewis Lewis thanks his good health and driving skills for enabling him to travel so much.
He said: "I have been with the Guardian Royal Insurance Company for many years and they have just given me an extra 10% discount for being a careful driver and that's on top of my no claims allowance.
"I hope I can continue to be useful for some time to come and I must say that the activity of being a volunteer has enriched my life and given every day a meaningful purpose."
Lewis began his voluntary work at St Peter's after first hand experience as a patient.
He was so impressed with the treatment and care that he decided to do something in return.
However, his voluntary contributions have a much longer history as Lewis has been a trustee at the Sunninghill Fuel Allotment Trust for 40 years and is currently chairman.
His work has also been officially recognised by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen Mother.
Lewis, who worked for the International Publishing Corporation (IPC), is a widower. He was happily married to Norwegian wife Karen for 62 years. Sadly, their only son Bernard died four years ago at his home in South Africa.
However, Lewis enjoys visiting his two granddaughters and grandson and is looking forward to becoming a great grandfather in December.
"Lewis is our most senior volunteer and an inspiration to us all," said St Peter's voluntary services manager Freda Larham.
"People often come along to me and say they would like to volunteer but they are in their seventies and wonder if they are too old.
When I tell them that our oldest is almost 90 years young they are most encouraged.
Lewis is a very worldly-wise gentleman and makes a valuable contribution to St Peter's."
Happy birthday Lewis and keep up the good work!
Extract Walton & Weybridge Leader & Chertsey & Addlestone Leader 31/07/1997

Comment:- The above article was accompanied by a photo.
The photo showed Congratulations
Committed and valued: Lewis Story has clocked up 30,000 hours of voluntary work
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Safety First,Staff's Generous Donation

Heatherwood Hospital's maternity unit has received a £750 donation from the staff of Southern Electric's Bracknell depot.
The depot is in the top three of the Southern Electric Safety League,' and has remained accident-free for more than five years.
Its efforts were rewarded by the company with £750 to donate to its favourite charity.
Maternity unit clinical manager Eileen Nolan said: "Following so closely on the heels of our successful open day, it is lovely to receive an unexpected donation such as this, and we would like to thank the Bracknell depot for their continued generous support.
Extract Bracknell Times 14/08/1997

Comment:- The above article was accompanied by a photo.
The photo captioned:"▲ Front left to right: Supply restoration manager Paul Garstang, Alison McLoughlin and baby Lauren Amber, depot clerk Brenda Thomas. Back: team midwife Chrissie Broomfield and clinical manager of maternity services, Eileen Nolan."
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Hospital on Public Display

For anyone who wondered what goes on under the spotlight and scalpel in an operating theatre, all is about to be revealed at Heatherwood Hospital.
The hospital in Ascot will be opening it's theatre doors to the public on September 20 from 1.30 to 3.30 pm to give people the opportunity to go behind the scenes of an operating theatre.
Staff will meet members of the public at the main maternity reception and escort them around the day surgery unit and theatres.
Tours will feature simulated scenarios from admission to surgical procedures and on to recovery.
Each tour will take around 30 minutes with staff available to explain procedures and answer questions.
There will also be a display of surgical equipment for closer examination.
Extract Bracknell Times 28/08/1997

 

Hospital Complaints Are Down

There has been a drop in the number of complaints from from patients at Heatherwood Hospital Ascot.
This is revealed Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals Trust annual report for 1996/97.
It also shows that 98 per cent of in-patients asked were satisfied with the service.
The trust also met its three-point legal duty to break even on its income and expenditure account; achieve a 6 per cent return on assets; and borrow within approved limits.
Extract Bracknell Times 04/09/1997

 

Row Over Future of Maternity Unit

A row has erupted over the future of the Heatherwood Hospital maternity unit.
Bracknell MP Andrew Mackay has lashed out at county councillor Mandy Williams over a letter sent to the health minister Alan Milburn.
In it, he claims, Mrs Williams undermined the achievements of the unit in the run-up to a review of its viability.
He said: "Mandy Williams has, in my view, gone a stage too far. She has written to Alan Milburn saying the midwife-led unit is expensive and not reaching targets. She is undermining the case and I condemn it as irresponsible."
He said he would be campaigning hard to ensure the unit stays open following the review.
However, Cllr Williams claims she was in no way undermining the achievements of the unit and had written to the health minister to alert him to the review.
She said: "I just mentioned that it was coming up for review and that we were concerned that nothing should happen to Heatherwood."
She admitted she had mentioned in the letter the unit had not been meeting its target earlier in the year.
But she added: "I was one of the leading campaigners in the fight to keep it open. The suggestion then was to take the whole thing away." The midwife-led unit came into existence two years ago when the full unit came under threat of closure.
Complicated cases must now go to Wexham Park Hospital in Slough where consultants are on hand. However, the majority of Bracknell mothers use the unit at Heatherwood Hospital.
From July 1995 to August 1997. the unit delivered 1,571 babies.
Chairman of the Heatherwood Advisory Group Jerry Glynn said: "The expected delivery rate was about two to three a day and some months have been below it and some above it.
But overall it's met the target."
The review has now been completed on the unit and is set to remain open although the group would like to see the full maternity service reinstated.
He said Mr MacKay, initially in favour of the closure, was now very supportive of the unit as was Cllr Williams.
Extract Bracknell Times 25/09/1997

 

Week That changed My Life

Michelle Hooper from The Emmbrook School, Wokingham, writes about her future career IN July,
I was one of a small group of sixth formers from Emmbrook, Charters and Maiden Erleigh schools who were given the chance to take a small group of special needs pupils from Charters and Kennet Schools to an outdoor pursuits centre in Tirabad, Wales.
The week was thoroughly rewarding and enjoyable for everyone. The pupils from Charters and Kennel Lane had their own carers with them and we helped them enjoy all the activities.
But the week was especially good for me because it changed my life.
I so much enjoyed the experience of working with and helping others to achieve that I volunteered one week of my summer holiday to the Wokingham District Crossroads scheme which allows full-time carers of special needs children to have a break.
As the time came to choose higher education courses, I decided to go for a degree in occupational therapy (OT).
From there, I arranged to go to the occupational therapy department at Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, during the October half-term.
It was an excellent week. I was able to spend each day with a different occupational therapist so I learned a great deal about the variety of work.
OT is the treatment and management of physical and psychological conditions through the use of activities.
My week was split into hand splinting, home assessments for hip care before and after the operations, stroke patients and care of the elderly.
The OT department at Heatherwood has its own kitchen and bathroom.
People who have had strokes or accidents can be assessed about what they can do, and how they can be helped to do more to regain their independence.
This includes simple activities such as washing, dressing and kitchen chores such as preparing meals, making cups of tea and even getting in and out of the bath.
All these can be made easier with regular practice but becoming independent again can be a long learning process.
Special aids have been designed to help patients with day to day tasks.
There are rails to help with getting in and out of the bath or up the stairs, a 'helping hands' tool which enables the user to pick items off the floor without bending over, and another which enables patients to put on socks or stockings. These are all very useful in hip care.
I really enjoyed my time at Heatherwood and it has certainly decided me on my future career.
Extract Ascot & Bracknell & Wokingham Times 27/11/1997

Comment:- The above article was accompanied by a photo.
The photo captioned:"From left: Leona Donnan, neurology senior occupational therapist at Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, shows Michelle Hooper and occupational therapy juniors Jodie Westacott and Louise Hayter equipment designed to improve hand/eye co-ordination and control".
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Review: Maternity Units Could be Hit in RBH Service Shake-up

By Lucy Rimmer
Pregnant mothers face race to Ascot
  Doctors and mid-wives at Royal Berkshire Hospital fear a possible shake-up of maternity services could mean mothers being rushed around by ambulance if they get into difficulty giving birth.
They are concerned that health chiefs want to reduce the RBH service so that it deals with mainly complex deliveries.
West Berkshire mums who are expected to have an uncomplicated labour would be booked into Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot instead, which is geared towards low-risk births.
Medical staff say problems could arise if a simple birth at Heatherwood developed complications.
Although it has specialist teams to deal with more difficult deliveries, it does not have the sophisticated set-up of the RBH, which routinely handles around 5.500 complex and simple births a year.
Mums could then end up being transferred by ambulance to Wexham Park Hospital at Slough, the nearest high-risk unit.
One hospital source said: "If you get into trouble in a birth. you don't want to get into an ambulance and go across the county.
"At the Royal Berks, you are yards away from specialist services if anything goes wrong. "The Royal Berks maternity service is the envy of the country. "We have people coming from all over the world to look at it.
They are trying to create what they think is a good alternative, but we would argue that it is an inferior set-up.'
Their worries have been prompted by news of a review of maternity services in Berkshire.
The review is part of a package of possible cost-cutting measures being considered by Berkshire Health Authority, which has pledged to reduce its £4 million debt by 1999.
The authority hopes the whole package will save £3.9 million in the year 1998/99.
At a health authority meeting on Monday, chief executive Crispin Kirkman said maternity services were to be reviewed with a view to finding a more appropriate service'.
He said the review would look at the possibility of separating high and low-risk births in west Berkshire, and added: "There could be some synergy with Heatherwood."
RBH staff believe the scheme is designed to cut costs and prop up Heatherwood, which has long had the threat of closure hanging over it and needs to do a certain number of deliveries each year to remain viable.
A health authority spokeswoman said: "Nothing has been decided. It has all still to be looked at."
She added: "The review is going to look at the capacity. the demand, where a service is overburdened. All the services are going to be looked at.
Extract Evening Post 01/12/1997

 

Opinion: If it Ain't Broke

THE never-ending Wacky Races scenario in which health bosses chase after another idea to save money, while medical staff reel from more changes, is demonstrated again today.
This time mums likely to have low risk births may be trundled off to Heatherwood in Ascot, the least result of which will be to give their offspring a rather posher place of birth on their certificate than Reading.
The worst of it is that mothers who then experience trouble will have to be rushed through traffic hell to Slough.
What can we expect to be the effect of this reduction on demand on our prime maternity services in Reading? They will bear the brunt of cost cutting.
Is there no alternative but to see our respected NHS wither away from lack of funds?
Extract Evening Post 01/12/1997

 

A Clean Bill of Health for Heatherwood

Heatherwood's maternity unit has been the all clear by the Berkshire Health Authority.
A report produced by the Evaluation group, made up of GPs, consultants, midwives, general managers, community health council and health authority representatives, found the maternity unit was clinically safe and had adequate medical staffing.
It also confirmed that patients were satisfied with the service they received.
The report will banish fears over the unit's existence since it became mid wife led two years ago. The unit came into existence two years ago when the full unit came under threat of closure.
Complicated cases must now go to Wexham Park Hospital, Slough.
However, the majority of Bracknell mothers use the unit at Heatherwood Hospital.
A review of services at the unit earlier this year indicated the unit did not always meet its expected delivery rate of two to three births a day but a had met the overall target with 1,571 babies born there between July and August.
Frank Collins, chief executive of Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS trust, said: "We are delighted with the Health Authority's endorsement of our Heatherwood Maternity services. "Everyone who has worked so hard over the last two years to set up and develop this service can be very proud of their achievement."
Extract Ascot & Bracknell & Wokingham Times 04/12/1997

 

Hospital Blaze

Fire officers from Bracknell rushed to Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot on Wednesday evening (December 10) after curtains had been set alight in the Elderly and Mentally Infirm ward.
A spokesman for Heatherwood said there had been some smoke damage, but no-one had been hurt.
Extract Ascot & Bracknell Times 18/12/1997