The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has warned that the appointment of a new Health Secretary comes at the worst possible moment for maternity services. The Amos and Ockenden reviews are due to report in June – a timetable the RCM says must be honoured, with eight in ten midwives saying their unit is not safely staffed.
The Royal College of Midwives, Chief Executive Gill Walton, said:
“A change of Health Secretary at this moment is the last thing women, babies and midwives need at such a critical time for maternity services.
“Eight in ten midwives say their unit is not safely staffed. Our members are running on empty and holding a broken system together on goodwill and unpaid hours. What women, families and midwives need now is action, funding and delivery – not huge disruption.
“The Amos and Ockenden reviews are due to report in June. The families who shared their most painful experiences to make those reports possible cannot be kept waiting because of a change at the top. Neither can midwives and maternity support workers, who gave evidence about the conditions they are working under every day. That timetable must be honoured.
“When these recommendations are published, the new Health Secretary James Murray must act on them immediately. Not review them or consult on them. Not delay them. But implement them with ring-fenced funding. Women, babies and the maternity staff who care for them have waited long enough.”
