Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to standardise guidance on safe staffing levels in maternity care between NHS hospital trusts.

We have a record number of midwives working in the National Health Service this year, with over 600 more than a year ago. We are also investing £10.6 million in an additional 1,000 temporary roles to help newly qualified midwives join the NHS. The Government has invested over £16 million in additional funding for obstetricians in England since 2023/24. As of June 2026, there were 100 more obstetrics and gynaecology consultants than a year earlier. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will set out how the NHS will have the right people, in the right places and with the right skills to care for patients when they need it.

We will publish a single national action plan by the end of the year to drive systemic and sustained improvement across maternity and neonatal care. Ensuring that services have the right workforce to deliver safe care for all women and babies is central to this work.