Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to strengthen leadership within the midwifery profession at (1) national, (2) regional, and (3) local level.

As part of the delivery of Workstream 5 (Transforming the Workforce) of the NHS England Maternity Transformation Programme, Health Education England is working with the NHS Leadership Academy to develop a leadership training offer to Local Maternity Systems to support those working in maternity services to develop the collaborative, compassionate and inclusive leadership that evidence demonstrates is most effective in delivering improvements to care and better health outcomes.

Health Education England is also working collaboratively with key stakeholders including NHS England, NHS Improvement, the Royal College of Midwives and Local Maternity System Leaders to ensure alignment with work that is already taking place to develop midwifery leaders and to ensure that the training offer meets the ongoing needs of those who will be delivering and supporting improvement across maternity services.

Additionally, the NHS Leadership Academy works to support excellent leadership across the National Health Service. The Academy provides tools, programmes and expertise to support individuals to improve as leaders. Midwives can access all these resources, whether taking their first steps in healthcare leadership or working at a senior/executive level. The Academy also has ten local leadership academies who connect services on a regional level and provide bespoke support to leaders at every level across the country.