Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of maternity services not recruiting newly qualified midwives on patient safety, continuity of care and overall costs.

We are aware of the difficulties newly qualified midwives are experiencing in securing employment in the National Health Service. NHS England actively monitors future nursing and midwifery student numbers, current vacancies, and staff turnover and is taking action to support newly qualified midwives into NHS employment.

We are investing £10.6 million to fund an additional 1,000 temporary roles to help newly qualified midwives join the NHS. The new roles for graduates will help build on the success of the 2025 Graduate Guarantee that means every newly qualified midwife in England will have the opportunity to apply to join the NHS.

The National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, which is comprised of family representatives, clinicians, and other experts, and chaired by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will oversee the development of a new national action plan to drive systemic and sustained improvement across maternity and neonatal care. This will include how to support the maternity and neonatal workforce. This is in addition to a new 10 Year Workforce Plan, due to be published soon, to ensure we have the right people, in the right places, with the rights skills to deliver care to patients when they need it.