Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to increase the ratio of healthcare assistants to midwives in stand-alone midwife-led units maternity units.

No assessment has been made regarding a policy to increase the ratio of healthcare assistants to midwives in stand-alone midwife-led maternity units.

NHS England have committed to ensuring that the right numbers of the right staff are available to provide the best care for women and babies through regular local workforce planning.

The Government recognises that there are serious issues within maternity services and we will learn from the findings from recent inquiries and investigations such as that carried out at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust and from the emerging lessons from the ongoing inquiry at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. The Government’s policy is that the National Health Service as a whole is in crisis, and my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned an investigation into the NHS, led by Professor Lord Darzi, which will focus on assessing patient access to healthcare, the quality of healthcare being provided and the overall performance of the health system.