Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) well-being, (b) morale and (c) working conditions of midwives at NHS hospitals in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government values midwives and is committed to supporting them as a profession and in their everyday working lives.

Local employers across the National Health Service have their own arrangements in place for supporting staff, including occupational health provision, employee support programmes, and a focus on healthy working environments. This, alongside strong leadership and a supportive culture, is central to improving staff engagement and morale and contributes to improved working conditions for staff.

To support local employers, NHS England has introduced targeted midwifery support, including the introduction of Perinatal Midwifery Advocates, who support trusts to offer additional capacity for wellbeing support and restorative clinical supervision, the national Preceptorship Framework, which provides early career support to help midwives transition from education to employment, the midwifery mentorship scheme, strengthened advice and support on pensions, and flexible retirement options.