Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department provides to NHS Trusts on the use of ward-wide audible alarm systems in maternity wards.

Guidance is provided to National Health Service trusts on alarms in Health Building Note (HBN) 09-02: Maternity care facilities, available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/HBN_09-02_Final.pdf

This document includes the requirement for all birthing rooms and maternity beds to have both a nurse call bell for patient use and a staff emergency call bell for staff use in the case of an emergency. Any new builds, large renovations or refurbishments are subject to adhering to HBN guidance. NHS England will be updating the HBN later this year.