Maternity services at St John's Hospital in Chelmsford are "on a knife's edge", according to a top doctor.
The high level of caesarian births is one factor, Dr Paul Zollinger-Read, Chelmsford Primary Care Trust chief executive, told a meeting in Braintree over the call for 24-hour birth services at the town's WJC Hospital.
He said the service at St John's sometimes verged on "unsafe". "When that happens we cannot run peripheral units and risk a disaster at St John's."
Later Dr Zollinger-Read warned: "The hospital trust is struggling with maternity cover."
Published Thursday July 1, 2004
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