Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the findings of the report entitled Locked Out: the impact of COVID-19 on neonatal care, published by Bliss in May 2021 on the increased likelihood of mental health difficulties for parents with restricted access to neonatal units, what support his Department is providing to NHS Trusts to help ensure that they can facilitate full parental presence on neonatal units.

Current guidance, published on 15 April 2021, sets out that Trusts should undertake a risk assessment, make changes to the configuration of space used to provide care, and use any available testing capacity to maximise opportunities for parents to be with their babies and to identify how to facilitate parental presence at all times of day.

NHS England and NHS Improvement has worked closely with Trusts to adopt the actions set out in current guidance, and to remove barriers which prevent Trusts being able to facilitate parental presence in neonatal units.