Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will implement the recommendations from the Safe Staffing: The impact of staffing shortages in maternity and neonatal care: Report of the Baby Loss and Maternity All Party Parliamentary Groups.

We are currently considering the recommendations made in the report. In 2022, NHS England has invested £127 million in the National Health Service maternity workforce and improving neonatal care. This is in addition to the £95 million investment made in 2021 to fund the establishment of a further 1,200 midwifery and 100 consultant obstetrician posts.

National Health Service trusts can utilise Birthrateplus, a workforce planning calculation which determines the required total midwifery workforce establishment for all hospital and community services. In addition to the Acuity App, this supports the provision of safe and effective care which is responsive to changes in acuity and workforce. NHS England has established a nursing and midwifery retention programme, supporting organisations to undertake an assessment against interventions aligned to the People Promise and to use the outcome to develop high quality retention improvement plans locally.

Training programmes for healthcare professionals must meet the standards set by the regulatory body for the profession. Health Education England (HEE) is working with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and other partners to support the implementation of the Nursing and Midwifery Council Future Midwife Standards. HEE is also working with stakeholders towards a targeted increase of 3,650 midwifery student places by the end of 2022/23, with training leading to professional regulation.