To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve midwife retention rates.
It is the responsibility of individual employers to have policies in place to develop and support the midwifery work force.
Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for ensuring sufficient midwives and other maternity staff are trained to provide necessary care and support for expectant women and new mothers. Local Education Training Boards (LETBs) work with HEE to provide local delivery and leadership. LETBs are the forum for providers and professionals to work collectively to improve the quality of education and training in their local area and to meet needs of service providers, patients and the public.
Universities will be using the ‘values based recruitment’ model, to ensure the right choices are made early, ie that students are right for midwifery and midwifery is right for them. By ensuring the intake of student midwives comprises people best suited to this type of career choice, it is more likely they will complete training and stay longer in post, thus increasing retention rates.
‘Compassion in Practice’, the three year vision and strategy for nursing and midwives, (launched December 2012 by NHS England), requires organisations to publish their staffing levels and use an evidence based tool to calculate them. ‘Birth Rate Plus’ is an example of a tool that organisations could use for this purpose.
‘Compassion in Practice’ is available from NHS England's website:
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