Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure equal access to overnight rooms or bed-space next to their child for parents saying overnight with their child in a paediatric ward and parents staying overnight with their baby in a neonatal unit.

As part of a review into neonatal critical care, NHS England is currently in the process of collating information on the availability of parent accommodation in hospitals and neonatal units, as an important part of the service specification. Individual National Health Service providers are responsible for providing this service within the current contractual arrangements. NHS England are visiting every trust as part of the Quality Surveillance Team reviews.

The Neonatal Critical Care Review is to make recommendations that will support the delivery of high quality, safe, sustainable and equitable models of neonatal care across England. It will be presenting a draft review report to NHS England in October 2017. The draft report will be then be consulted upon before being finalised. The Neonatal Critical Care Review has already set out a range of themes that are to be factored into Local Maternity Systems’ Transformation Plans.