Hospital baby milk u-turn

Councillor Jean Ashworth

Hospital bosses have announced a dramatic u-turn on plans to force new mothers to pay for their baby’s formula milk. The Pennine Acute Trust had planned to make mothers at Rochdale Infirmary buy £5 tokens which could be traded in for a pack of 10 bottles of milk and teats.

The scheme, which it was expected would save the trust about £30,000 a year, had been due to start in March. The trust claimed that charging mothers for the formula milk would encourage breast feeding.

Following her outspoken criticism of the policy on Rochdale Online, Councillor Jean Ashworth made national headlines in her campaign to get the decision overturned, appearing in The Sun and The Daily Express. She also made several appearances on television channels such as Granada.

Councillor Ashworth said: “This is excellent news. It’s people power in action – and power to the little babies that deserve the milk.

“They have had a change of heart and listened to our concerns.

"Obviously it wasn’t going to work and it would have caused a lot of problems.

"They will have to stand by the decision now.”

The Pennine Acute Trust declined to comment on the u-turn.