NHS Board asked to consider plan to engage on proposed changes to where high risk and complex maternity and gynaecology care happens in Liverpool at its next meeting

The Board of NHS Cheshire and Merseyside (ICB) is being asked to consider and approve plans for a six-week public engagement on where high-risk and complex gynaecology and maternity care happens in Liverpool, at its next meeting taking place on 28 May 2026.

The Board meeting will take place from 1pm to 4:30pm at Holiday Inn (Liverpool Suite), Lime Street, Liverpool, L1 1NQ.

All NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Board meetings are held in public, and live-streamed via our YouTube channel to enable those who are unable to attend in person to observe the meeting.

Board papers and further details about the Board Meeting can be accessed on our website..

If the plans are approved by the Board, a six-week public engagement period will launch this summer which will seek to gather views on a proposal for a small number of high-risk and complex births and gynaecology operations to take place at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, rather than at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.

The NHS has been looking at how to improve the safety of hospital gynaecology and maternity services in Liverpool for a number of years. Most of this care is currently provided at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, on a separate site to where most other adult services are based, including emergency and critical care services, and most other specialist and surgical teams.

This situation means that Liverpool Women’s is less able to manage acutely ill or rapidly deteriorating patients, and those with complex surgical needs or significant medical co-morbidities. No other specialist gynaecology and maternity services in England are arranged in this way.

Further information about the long-standing clinical risks and issues facing these services can be accessed in a Summary of the Case for Change document, which was first published in autumn 2024.

Although it is recognised that a proposal to move a small number of high risk and complex cases would not solve all of the problems that come from having gynaecology and maternity services in a separate hospital to other adult specialties, it would improve care for the most seriously unwell patients in Liverpool.

The NHS also remains committed to finding a long-term solution that will improve quality and safety for everyone who uses gynaecology and maternity services in Liverpool, and discussions about how to do this will continue as this smaller proposal moves forwards.