Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research his Department has (a) funded and (b) commissioned on the risk of antimicrobial-resistant healthcare-acquired infections in maternity wards.

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has undertaken a number of investigations, including with international and academic partners to better understand the acquisition and prevention of healthcare associated infections (HCAI), particularly around surgical site infections post-caesarean section and maternal sepsis. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds two NIHR Health Protection Research Units (HPRUs) in HCAIs and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). NIHR HPRUs are research partnerships between universities and UKHSA. One of these, led by Imperial College and UKHSA, is delivering a study on improving hospital infection prevention and control practices in neonates.

In 2016, the NIHR funded a £965,630.44 study looking at the accuracy of a rapid intrapartum test for maternal group B streptococcal colonisation and its potential to reduce antibiotic usage in mothers with risk factors. In 2018, NIHR funded research looking at AMR in neonates and neonatal nasogastric tubes through the NIHR Great Ormond Street and the Southampton Biomedical Research Centres.