Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to reform the Local Supervising Authority system for midwives.

Both the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s and Dr Bill Kirkup’s reports following Morecambe Bay were critical of the Local Supervising Authority system provided for in legislation for midwives.

The Nursing and Midwifery (Amendment) Order 2017 separated the function of midwifery supervision, which is the responsibility of the employer, from regulatory activity, which is the responsibility of the Nursing and Midwifery Council. This brought the regulation of midwives into line with the arrangements for other regulated professions and means that supervisors are no longer involved in regulatory investigations and sanctions.

Subsequently, a new non-statutory model of supervision for midwives has been developed and rolled out in each of the four countries of the United Kingdom with NHS England leading this work in England. The new model focuses on the professional and developmental aspects of the role.