A total of 81 expectant mothers were turned away from a labour ward at a hospital last year due to staff shortages, the BBC has learned.

A Freedom of Information (FoI) request found the maternity ward at the Royal Berkshire Hospital was closed on 47 occasions last year.

The hospital delivers about 500 babies a month, but some pregnant women had to be “diverted” to other hospitals.

Reported by BBC News. You can read the full story here. 

Matthew Burgess
http://www.mattburgess.co
I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.