Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the finding in the report by Bliss, Hanging in the Balance, published in 2015 that there is a shortage of nurses, doctors and other professionals that are needed to deliver safe and high-quality care to premature and sick babies, what steps his Department has taken towards tackling that shortage.

The Neonatal Critical Care Clinical Reference Group is carrying out a neonatal care review under the auspices of the National Maternity Transformation Programme. The reference group has been tasked with looking at the best model of care for neonatal services, including the focus on workforce and staffing. A draft report will be consulted upon before being finalised. The findings and recommendations from the neonatal critical care review will be used by Local Maternity Systems to develop and deliver local plans to reduce the variation in neonatal outcomes and provide for stronger models of networked care to deliver optimal perinatal and neonatal care.