A series of events where people can share their views on a review of services provided at Liverpool Women's Hospital is taking place throughout August.
Attendees at the events during August will be presented with the reasons that midwives, nurses and doctors think change is needed, and then asked to discuss the issues in more detail, and share what is important to them.
This will be followed by a question and answer session with a panel of clinical staff from Liverpool Women's and NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, which is leading the review as part of its Healthy Liverpool programme.
Dianne Brown, Director of Nursing and Midwifery at Liverpool Women's, said: "These events are a great opportunity for people to learn about the reasons for change, get answers to their questions and let us know what their priorities are.
"We need to change so we can make sure all of our patients receive the very best care. No decisions have been made yet and we want to involve the public in every step of this process. This isn't about cutting services, this is about making what we have even better."
Liverpool Women's opened more than 20 years ago and the needs of patients have changed in that time. Women are living longer and having babies later in life, while advances in medicine mean more premature and unwell babies are surviving when they wouldn't have in the past.
Not all of the care needed to treat these increasingly complex needs is available at Liverpool Women's, so women and newborn babies have to be transferred to other local hospitals, often by ambulance. This means that Liverpool Women's is unable to meet national care standards in a number of areas.
The hospital is also facing financial challenges that can't be resolved within current arrangements.
Public events are taking place on:
- Tuesday 2 August at Blackburne House, Blackburne Place, L8 7PE. Event runs 6pm - 8pm with registration and coffee from 5.30pm.
- Thursday 4 August at PAL Multicultural Centre, 68a Mulgrave St, L8 2TF. Event runs 2pm - 4pm with registration and coffee from 1.30pm.
- Wednesday 10 August at Oakmere Community College, Cherry Lane, L4 6UG. Event runs 3pm - 5pm with coffee and registration from 2.30pm.
Places at the events can only be guaranteed if people book a place in advance. They can do this at www.healthyliverpool.nhs.uk or by calling 0151 296 7537.
Views gathered during July and August will be used to develop a number of possible options for delivering women's and newborn babies' services in the future. These will be subject to formal public consultation, which is currently expected to happen in late 2016 or early 2017.