New survey data from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has laid bare the scale of the safety crisis in NHS maternity services – with nine in ten midwives saying staffing levels directly affect the care they can provide to women and babies.
The findings, from a survey of 3,523 midwives, maternity support workers and midwifery students across the UK, paint an alarming picture of a workforce on the edge – and lay bare the conditions facing NHS maternity services.
In the week of 1-7 June alone, 77% said their unit was not safely staffed – and over the past month, nearly three quarters (72%) said staffing felt unsafe on more than half of their shifts.
The data also shows that three-quarters of midwives have considered leaving the profession in the last year, with staffing levels and safety fears cited as the primary factors.
Robbie Turner, Chief Membership Officer at the RCM, said: “Midwives are not leaving because they no longer care – they are leaving because the system will not let them provide the care they want to give. Three in four considering leaving is not a staffing problem, it is a staffing emergency.
“Every midwife goes into this profession because they want to provide safe, high-quality care – and that is what makes this data so concerning. Safe staffing is a prerequisite for safe care.
“The hard truth is that the conditions that put women and babies at risk – exhausted staff, inadequate numbers, no time for breaks or training – are still the daily reality for midwives right now, across every part of the UK.
“Inquiry after inquiry has told us what needs to change. We need more midwives, we need them paid fairly, and we need action now – not more warm words or empty promises from the Government.”
The survey also found that unpaid overtime has become routine, with 77% working extra unpaid hours in a single working week, with one in five working more than five hours beyond their contracted time for nothing.
Almost a third of respondents (30%) did not have 24 consecutive hours free from work during the week surveyed, and 38% did not get the 11 hours of uninterrupted rest every 24 hours that working time regulations are meant to guarantee.
Three in four midwives (75%) have left or considered leaving in the past year. The top reasons are staffing levels (65%), safety concerns (54%), work-life balance (54%) and the impact on mental health (41%).
Asked what would make them stay or return, 66% said more midwives and maternity support workers, and 61% said increased pay.
The full results can be viewed here.
