Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the leaders of the (a) review of neonatal services and (b) Maternity Transformation Programme to ensure that their work plans are co-ordinated to ensure continuity of care for mothers whose babies are admitted to neonatal care.

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has not met with leaders of the Maternity Transformation Programme (MTP) or neonatal review to discuss continuity of care in neonatal services. The neonatal review, conducted by NHS England’s Women and Children’s Programme of Care and its Neonatal Critical Care Clinical Reference Group, reports progress of the review into neonatal services to the MTP Board, as the review forms part of the overall MTP.

The review focuses on a number of themes and variables including admission rates, length of stay, outcomes and pregnancy profiles. The findings of the neonatal review will inform the development and delivery of Local Maternity Plans, with recommendations that will include ensuring continuity of care for mothers whose babies are admitted to neonatal care.