PHIL Day, the health boss who is proposing closing Devizes and Malmesbury maternity units, got a grilling from councillors at a recent meeting.

Mr Day, director of community services at the Kennet and North Wiltshire Primary Care Trust, was told to justify the reasons for wanting to close both units and transfer births and post natal care to Trowbridge and Chippenham.

The trust says Devizes and Malmesbury maternity units are too costly to run and are not used by enough women, despite there being an increase in births at both units last year.

The trust says closing the units will save £250,000 a year and is part of its plan to save £10 million over three years.

Members of the newly formed Kennet and North Wiltshire health scrutiny panel which met last Friday in Chippenham were critical of the statistics and information produced by the trust.

Differing costs have been given for running each unit and Malmesbury district and county councillor John Thomson said to Mr Day: "You need to come back to us and tell us what it costs to run Malmesbury, Devizes and Chippenham maternity units.

"Let's have some facts and figures we can understand, at the moment it's all mirrors and smoke. "

He said the trust should also produce evidence of what effect closing both units would have on patient choice, the impact on breast feeding levels and increasing travel costs for families.

Devizes county councillor Pat Rugg said: "Devizes has the largest house building programme in Kennet and we are preparing to build new schools to cater for the increase in children.

"How much work would have to be done in Trowbridge Hospital for it to cope with extra women from Devizes? A small maternity unit in a new hospital in Devizes would be far less expensive to run."

Devizes midwife Linda Barnes, who attended the panel meeting on her day off, questioned how pregnant women without transport would get to Trowbridge or Chippenham maternity units.

She said: "How will women who go into labour during the night get to Trowbridge or Chippenham? Taxis do not take pregnant women in labour.

"The ambulance service will be stretched. I find it incredible there is no answer to this transport problem."

Malmesbury resident Margaret Batstone told the panel: "To shut Malmesbury Maternity Unit would be absolutely stupid. The numbers using it will increase in the future as the population increases.

"To send everybody to Chippenham is very foolish because Chippenham has grown enormously and wouldn't want Malmesbury women in addition.

Mr Day agreed to come back to the health scrutiny panel during the three month public consultation with clearer information on the cost of running each maternity unit. He will also have details of the cost of providing new maternity units in the proposed new hospitals for Devizes and Malmesbury.

The health scrutiny panel meets again on February 27 when it expects to receive all the detailed information requested from Mr Day.

The health scrutiny panel reports to the county council's health overview and scrutiny committee which has the power to refer any proposed changes to health services to the Secretary of State for Health.

The Gazette is encouraging women who have booked to give birth at Devizes and Malmesbury maternity units to keep their booking and women who would like to give birth at one of the units to contact the units. Contact Devizes Maternity Unit on (01380) 720303 and Malmesbury Maternity Unit on (01666) 822657.