The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in Northern Ireland says it’s pressing the Northern Ireland Executive for progress on an overdue pay award for its members. The RCM has described the delay as ‘utterly unfair’ and ‘completely demoralising’ for hard working midwives and maternity support workers (MSWs) The Health and Social Care (HSC) Trade Unions in Northern Ireland of which the RCM is part of have issued a statement today also calling out the lack of progress and ‘broken commitments’ from the Northern Ireland Executive.

Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Cymru has welcomed the Welsh Government’s announcement of a new Maternity and Neonatal Oversight Panel, which will undertake a current state ‘rapid independent assessment’ of maternity services in Wales. However, the RCM has cautioned that this assessment must strengthen and support the improvement work that is already underway, not derail it. Following the Welsh Government’s publication of the ‘New Standards for Maternity Care’ earlier this year the RCM says services and staff are already working hard to implement improvements. Equally, the RCM has called for the lived experiences and voices of women and families who have suffered unbearable loss and to those who have received care that has fallen short of the high standard of quality maternity care to be central to this rapid.